Price tag switching lands Russian man in jail

Just because he wanted to save P27 on a bunch of bananas, a 50-year-old Russian was arrested for allegedly switching price tags at a grocery store in Quezon City. Istuan Tapai, a resident of Banahaw Street in the Cubao area, was arrested on Saturday night as he was leaving the Shopwise supermarket at the Araneta Commercial Center with a bunch of bananas. PO2 Roldan Cornejo of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) said that Shopwise employee Reynaldo Masbad saw Tapai removing the price tag from a bunch of Saba bananas worth P48.13 and putting it on a bunch of Cavendish bananas worth P74.97. Masbad then said the Russian man went to the cashier and paid for his purchase. The Shopwise employee accosted Tapai just as he was leaving the supermarket and turned him over to security officials. The suspect was later turned over to the custody of the QCPD-CIDU for investigation. In inquest proceedings on Sunday morning, Assistant City Prosecutor John Patrick Corpuz recommended the filing in court of an estafa charge against Tapai who remains detained at the QCPD-CIDU holding cell.  Jeannette I. Andrade

Bike-truck collision leaves security guard dead

A security guard on his nightly bike ride died after his head was crushed by a 16-wheeler on Road 10 in Tondo, Manila. Ronald Albao, 37, a security officer working and residing in Sta. Ana, Manila, died on the spot after he was hit by the truck on Road 10 corner Herbosa Street around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. The victim, based on the initial investigation of the Manila Police District Traffic Investigation Section, was on a mountain bike when the accident happened. “He really loved to go biking, and he made it a point to go biking whenever he did not have to go to work,” his sister Lorry told the Inquirer. Truck driver Jose Llamado Jr., meanwhile, told the Inquirer that he failed to notice that the victim was traveling very close to his truck. “The left side of the road was very dark so I did not see him biking near my vehicle,” Llamado explained, adding that his truck was running at a low speed at the time of the accident. Investigators said that the victim may have lost his balance or hit the truck before falling head first on the road. Maricar B. Brizuela