A police officer facing a string of cases, including extortion, was placed under arrest on Monday after he reported for duty at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters in Camp Karingal.
PO1 Crispin Cartagenas, 40, who is wanted for arresting a businessman on trumped-up charges and extorting P20,000 from his wife, was served a warrant by other policemen at the District Headquarters Support Unit where he is stationed.
Last year, Cartagenas faced dismissal from the service after he and several policemen were involved in another extortion case in San Juan City in 2015.
The charge against him was later dismissed although he was recommended for transfer to Mindanao, a punishment he avoided by going AWOL (absent without official leave) from Aug. 17 to Sept. 2 last year.
But before he went AWOL, he arrested a businessman, Julius Moraleda, at a gas station on Kalayaan Avenue corner Kamias Road for driving a motorcycle without a helmet on July 3, 2016.
Moraleda was taken to the Anonas police station where Cartagenas was assigned at that time. According to the police, they found a sachet of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in the businessman’s pocket.
However, Moraleda’s wife, who asked for anonymity for her own safety, told a different story to reporters. She said that when she went to see her husband at Station 9, Cartagenas demanded P50,000 for his release though he agreed to lower the amount to P20,000.
For this, the policeman was charged with robbery (extortion), illegal arrest, arbitrary detention, perjury and planting of evidence, resulting in the issuance of a warrant for his arrest by Judge Ferdinand Baylon of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77.
Cartagenas also faces administrative charges.