Cop nabbed after robbing, beating Japanese in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines—A policeman was arrested in Lapu-Lapu for allegedly robbing a Japanese who figured in a traffic accident on Saturday dawn.

P02 Bruce Taneo, a warrant server at the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) Station 3, was accused of taking the wallet, containing P12,000, of Masami Kon, 48, a native of Saitama, Japan, who temporarily lived in Nivel Hills, Cebu City.

Kon was driving his brown Toyota Revo on his way to work at Shim Cebu Metal Plating Inc. inside Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) 2 in Lapu-Lapu City.

Upon reaching Maximo Patalinghug Avenue in Lapu-Lapu, he sideswiped a woman. He stopped his vehicle to check on the woman.

But a man approached him and poked a gun at him. The man took his wallet containing P12,000 in cash and important documents and removed the rear license plate of his vehicle.

The Japanese also claimed that the man beat him up. Kon reported the crime to the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station, which deployed investigators to Maximo Patalinghug Avenue.

PO1 John Philip Selmaro, desk officer of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station, said the suspect was later identified as PO2 Taneo.

Taneo showed up at 12:30 a.m. to clear his name, explaining that he arrested the Japanese because he was involved in a vehicular accident.

But Taneo was detained after the witnesses corroborated the claim of the Japanese that the suspect took the wallet of Kon, said Selmaro.

The Lapu-Lapu policeman said Taneo turned over the wallet, but it only contained P2,000, instead of P12,000.

Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, MCPO chief, ordered an administrative investigation against Taneo that would be filed at the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas.

Gillamac said Taneo’s arrest should serve as a warning to all policemen under his command that he would not condone any illegal act.