Village watchman stabbed dead while trying to stop fistfight

MANILA — For trying to keep the peace, a volunteer barangay watchman was stabbed dead earlyMonday at Barangay Commonwealth in Quezon City.

According to a report from the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), Jonathan Dinero, 27, was patrolling along Payatas road with fellow watchman Ricric Langyao, on the lookout for residents illegally dumping their trash at around 4 a.m., when they chanced upon a group of men engaged in a fist fight outside a restaurant serving grilled chicken.

Dinero and Langyao approached the group to pacify the fight, but apparently irked by the intervention, one of the men, later identified as Ronel Pardo-Ano, 32, pulled out a kitchen knife and attempted to stab Langyao.

But Pardo-Ano missed. He tried to run across the road, but was accosted by Dinero. Pardo-Ano turned his ire on the younger watchman and stabbed him in the chest, killing him instantly, said the CIDU chief, Supt. Rodelio Marcelo, in his report.

After the attack, the group scattered along Payatas road, but Pardo-Ano and another one of the men, Neil Gaurana, 21, were eventually captured by other watchmen who chased them. The kitchen knife was recovered from Pardo-Ano.

Insp. Elmer Monsalve, the Quezon city homicide investigation chief, said a murder complaint would be filed against Pardo-Ano.  SFM