Security guard shows up, clears name

The former security camera operator of Gaisano Metro Colon on Tuesday appeared before the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI) to clear his name from accusations that he was behind the death of suspected shoplifter Mario Alfie Ducayag.

Jeffrey Aquino narrated to NBI agent Bernard dela Cruz what he saw inside the department store’s security room where Ducayag was allegedly mauled last April 12.

Aquino was accompanied by his lawyer Salvador Solima,

NBI-7 director Antonio Pagatpat said Aquino executed a sworn statement before Dela Cruz.

“We will verify everything that Aquino said. We have to find out whether or not his claims were faithful to the other evidence that we have,” Pagatpat told reporters yesterday.

He said asking Aquino to undergo a polygraph test is being considered.

“We have narrowed down the number of suspects which we identified. But I’m not at liberty to mention who were involved in the crime,” Pagatpat said.

Aquino earlier insisted that he is innocent of the crime. He claimed that it was the store’s chief security officer, Mauricio Doblados Jr., who mauled Ducayag after he failed to show a receipt for a pair of sandals he allegedly stashed in his bag.

Aquino, a native of Pinamungajan town, western Cebu was willing to tell everything and prove his innocence.

But Doblados and the other security officers of Gaisano Metro Colon accused Aquino of killing Ducayag.

Pagatpat said Doblados also went the to the NBI to relay whatever he saw when Ducayag was mauled.

“We’re working on this case,” he said,

Ducayag was arrested by the store’s security guards after he was allegedly spotted slipping a pair of sandals in a shopping bag and was intercepted as he stepped out of the store.

He was taken to the security office after he allegedly failed to produce a receipt for the sandals. Ducayag was rushed to the hospital minutes after his arrest and was declared dead.

Ducayag’s family sought the help of the NBI as they suspect that there was a whitewash on the probe done by the police./REPORTER ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL