San Juan cops fail to arrest Cedric Lee

NAVARRO photo:NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

A police team tasked with arresting businessman Cedric Lee came away empty-handed after they failed to find him in his house at an exclusive subdivision in San Juan City on Tuesday.

SPO3 Alric Macatuggal of the San Juan police warrant and subpoena section said they were told by the suspect’s maid, Tina Ablan, that it had been a while since she last saw her “boss.”

“She said he hasn’t come home since the issue [against him] became [a] hot [topic],” Macatuggal told the Inquirer over the phone.

He said that he and four other policemen went to Greenhills West subdivision around 3 p.m. Tuesday to serve Lee with the warrant for his arrest in connection with the grave coercion case filed against him by TV host-comedian Vhong Navarro.

They were stopped, however, by security personnel posted at the subdivision guardhouse although they were allowed in after coordinating with the guards’ security agency.

When they got to Lee’s house on Jackson Street, only his housemaid, Ablan, was home.

When she told them that she had not seen the trader in a while, the police asked her about a sport utility vehicle parked in the area.

“I think it was an E150 Ford. I asked her: ‘So whose car is that?’ And (the househelp) said, ‘Sir, that belongs to my boss,’” Macatuggal said, adding that Ablan said the vehicle had been there for some time.

Cedric Lee. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

“Our conversation didn’t take long,” Macatuggal told the Inquirer. He said they did not talk to Lee’s neighbors to ask if they knew of his whereabouts since the houses in the area were far apart from each other.

Lee, along with his sister, Bernice, model Deniece Cornejo and four others, were charged by Navarro with grave coercion after they allegedly tried to frame him for rape in January.

Navarro, who has denied raping Cornejo, claimed that he was set up and mauled by the group so that he would be forced to give them money.

Of the seven accused, only Cornejo, Sajed Fernandez Abuhijleh aka Jed Fernandez and Bernice have posted bail. The police continue to look for Lee, Simeon Palma Raz aka Zimmer Raz, Jose Paolo Gregorio Calma and Ferdinand Guerrero.

Calma, on the other hand, reportedly left the country on April 10, according to the justice department.