Police nab man pretending to be ‘kotong cop’

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Police arrested a man in Quezon City early Tuesday for extorting money from street vendors while pretending to be a police officer.

Mark Anthony Verbo, 27, was clad in a shirt with “police” markings when he was arrested by real policemen who set out to entrap him.

Batasan police station commander Superintendent Eleazar Matta said the fake lawman was collared after a sidewalk vendor complained of his extortion activities.

Verbo was arrested around 1 a.m. Tuesday on BF Road in Barangay (village) Holy Spirit.

A vendor of used cellphones, Gabriel Zalun, said the suspect had introduced himself as one SPO3 Pascual in November 2013. To be exempted from arrests of sidewalk vendors, Zalun was told he needed to give “Pascual” a cellphone each month.

Zalun had to give in since his business was illegal and he wanted no hassles. But then, Pascual’s demands became more frequent, once a week, and sometimes he would even ask for money along with the cellphones, according to Matta.

Zalun put up with the racket for two months until he decided to check with the Batasan police station if there was indeed a “Pascual” assigned there.

Upon learning that Verbo was a fake policeman, he sought help from the real policemen who then set up an entrapment operation.

The vendor and the suspect met up in Barangay Holy Spirit early Tuesday, but this time, the real policemen pounced on him as soon as he took the cellphone from the vendor.

Recovered from the suspect was a loaded .45-caliber pistol and two fake police identification cards.

Matta said Verbo did not have the necessary permit to carry, although the gun was licensed.

Verbo is now facing charges of illegal possession of firearms, robbery and extortion, falsification of public documents and usurpation of authority.

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