Cop leaves to eat, buddy dozes off, ‘drug seller’ flees

Jun No, alias Jazz —PHOTO FROM PNP-DEG

Two policemen are in hot water after a Korean-American earlier arrested for selling party drugs was able escape from their custody by simply walking out of a Quezon City hospital on Black Saturday, a few days after his surgery.

SPO2 Michael Macarubbo was out having breakfast while PO1 Ernie Eugenio fell asleep, allowing the suspect, who was not handcuffed to his hospital bed, to just leave, a ranking official said on Monday.

Macarubbo and Eugenio are now facing charges for evasion through negligence over the escape of drug suspect Jun No, according to the spokesperson of the Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG).

The Quezon City Prosecutors Office found probable cause to charge Macarubbo and Eugenio and recommended bail at P6,000 each. They were also slapped with an administrative complaint for serious neglect of duty.

Meanwhile, a woman who allegedly gave No money hours before the escape was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice.

No, who used the alias Jazz, gave his guards the slip at East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), where he had undergone surgery for acute appendicitis, Supt. Enrico Rigor of the PNP-DEG said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.

Deep regret

“This group would like to announce, with deep regret, that Jun No, the American citizen of Korean descent… escaped from hospital detention,” Rigor said. “The guards didn’t handcuff him to the bed… Before the deployment, there was a briefing by DEG and it was very clear that No should be handcuffed at all times to his hospital bed.”

Macarubbo reports to the PNP-DEG while Eugenio is under the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Busted in Pasay

Rigor said Macarubbo was out having breakfast while Eugenio was asleep right next to the suspect when No escaped.

No was arrested in a sting operation on April 5 when he allegedly sold 140 ecstasy tablets on Seaside Boulevard at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

Around noon on April 10, No complained of lower abdominal pain during a medical exam that was required before his transfer to the PDEA Quezon City Jail Annex in Bicutan, Taguig City. He was brought to the PNP General Hospital, where the attending physician determined that he was suffering from acute appendicitis and that he needed a medical operation.

No underwent surgery at EAMC around 9:30 p.m. on April 10, where he remained confined after the procedure.

Pinay visitor

The PNP said a 24-year-old Filipino woman identified as Darleen Son, alias Soeyang, arrived to see No the night before the escape and gave him P3,000.

The suspect was believed to have used the money to get a ride after leaving the hospital around 6:10 a.m. on Saturday.

Rigor said Son, who spent the night at the hospital, apparently did not know of No’s plan to escape and stayed behind even after the suspect had fled.

EAMC personnel prevented her from leaving after they learned of No’s escape. “They detained her and our investigators were able to arrest her when they arrived,” Rigor said.

The city prosecutor’s office found probable cause to charge Son for coddling a drug lord and set her bail at P200,000, Rigor added.

A security camera footage at EAMC showed No walking out of the hospital unaccompanied.

“He still needs antibiotics (and) can’t eat solid food,” the official noted.

No was earlier based in Cebu before he moved to Manila, where he continued to be a major supplier of illegal drugs in the Malate area, the police said.