Family says cops killed innocent man in gunfight with kidnap gang

CITY OF SAN JOSE DEL MONTE—Policemen who took part in a gunfight that killed seven suspected members of a kidnapping and robbery gang on Monday might have killed an innocent man, according to a family here.

Reynaldo Domingo, 38, from San Jose del Monte City, who was allegedly hired to drive a leased Mitsubishi Adventure van, was not part of the gang that supposedly kidnapped businessmen in Central Luzon, said his mother, Marina.

Domingo was among the men killed in a shootout with police at the boundary of Angeles City and Magalang town in Pampanga province. One of those killed was Jimboy Santos, the suspected leader.

The group allegedly fired at members of the Highway Patrol Group and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Barangay Pulong Cacutud in Angeles.

Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, Central Luzon police director, said the suspects, on board a Mitsubishi Montero and a Mitsubishi Adventure, did not stop when flagged down, prompting the policemen to give chase.

He said the Adventure was cornered at the boundary of Pandacaqui-San Jose Road in Angeles where Santos and his four companions shot it out with the policemen. Four of them, including Santos, died instantly while the fifth died before reaching the hospital.

Two other suspects in the Montero were stopped in front of Punta Verde subdivision on the Angeles-Magalang Road, but they fought with the lawmen.

Raised hands in surrender

Domingo’s family said they got a video purportedly showing policemen shooting at Reynaldo even after he raised his hands in surrender.

“The video showed my brother survived the shootout. His hands were handcuffed but when he raised his hands, he was shot repeatedly by policemen until he died,” his brother, Rodel, said on Tuesday.

The Domingo family said the police could have detained Reynaldo if they suspected him of taking part in crimes attributed to the Santos gang.

Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat Jr., acting Bulacan police director, said evidence suggested the people killed on Monday were part of the gang.

The lawmen set up a dragnet based on information that Santos’ group would rob a factory in Barangay Pandacaqui in Mexico town, according to Aquino.

Members of the Chinese-Filipino community in Central Luzon said the crackdown on Santos’ group had given them “some sense of peace.”

Linked to other kidnappings

The gang had been linked to the kidnapping of five Chinese businessmen who operated piggery and poultry farms in Tarlac province in 2015, according to a community leader, who asked not to be named over concerns for his safety.

The same group, the leader said, also seized two Chinese-Filipino traders in Angeles early last month. Reports from Tonette Orejas and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon