Fiscal finds basis to charge cop

Saturday, November 26, 2011

THE Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor yesterday found basis to charge five men for stealing a multicab and, with the help of a policeman, trying to sell it to a police official.

But PO2 Arvin Hernandez of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) 7, the man who allegedly facilitated the attempted sale to Senior Supt. Jose Antonio Rodrigo, of the Crime Laboratory 7, is not among those indicted.

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Hernandez is also not under arrest. He is named in the complaint lodged before Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Dixon Fuentes.

Hernandez could not be charged yesterday because he has yet to undergo preliminary investigation.

Hernandez will also face an administrative investigation.

Regional Intelligence Division (RID) 7 Chief Rey Lendon Lawas said Hernandez will have to answer the allegation within three days.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Marcelo Garbo wanted the investigation to protect the police against controversies.

Hernandez is assigned in RID 7 after his stint in the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) 7 in 2006.

He will only be restricted inside the camp during the investigation. He will have to work within 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will not join in police operations.

During their interrogation, Hernandez denied the charges.

In a report over DYLA, Hernandez believed some people inside HPG 7 were mad at him.

Felix Ernopia’s discovery of his carnapped multicab last Wednesday busted the carnapping group. Five men were arrested while Hernandez was accused of being involved in the incident.

Ernopia, a bakery owner, went inside the camp to report the loss of his multicab and found his multicab there. To his surprise, its plate number had been changed.

Hernandez allegedly tried to sell the multicab to Senior Supt. Jose Antonio Rodrigo of the Crime Laboratory 7 for P25,000.

Based on the complaint prepared by Police Chief Insp. Eduardo Mara, of the Regional Highway Patrol Group, Hernandez was among those investigated last Nov. 23.

It was Hernandez who identified respondent Nexon Jumao-as, one of those arrested and now facing a criminal case, to highway patrol investigators. Hernandez said it was Jumao-as who asked him to sell the multicab for a commission.

Jumao-as, who went to the police station after being called by Hernandez and was immediately taken into custody, identified the source of the vehicle as Christian dela Cruz and Ralph Ryan Catulong. He said the two, now his co-accused, first offered the car to him.

Based on the police’s complaint, a follow-up was conducted and dela Cruz and Catulong were arrested along Ranudo St., Cebu City. The complaint cited one basis – that they were the ones “pinpointed by Jumao-as as the source of the stolen motor vehicle.”

Dela Cruz then gave up respondent Capellan when dela Cruz was brought to the highway patrol headquarters and questioned. He said he bought the car from Capellan for P15,000 but was only able to pay P13,000.

Based on Mara’s complaint, an entrapment was set up, using the balance of the P15,000 as bait. The sting operation led to the arrest of Capellan, who was accompanied by one Reycris Gonzaga, along M.J. Cuenco Ave.

Capellan and Gonzaga join Jumao-as, dela Cruz and Catulong in the indictment.

Prosecutor Fuentes said he could not cause the indictment of Hernandez following his inquest investigation because he was not among those arrested.

He declined to comment on the highway patrol’s failure to take their fellow cop.

Fuentes assured he will be among those made to answer for the charge during the preliminary investigation that will follow.

In the police’s complaint, Hernandez was tagged for the carnapping, together with the four arrested respondents, one Marlone Lambojon of Lapu-Lapu City, who is also at-large, and two John Does.

Hernandez is also named in the anti-fencing law complaint together with dela Cruz, Catulong, Capellan, Lambojon and the two Does.

The intelligence division policeman, however, is not named in the third charge.

Enopia attended yesterday’s inquest investigation and submitted an affidavit narrating how his car was stolen and how he discovered it at the parking lot of Camp Sotero Cabahug, where the highway patrol group headquarters is also located.

The car was supposedly left there by Hernandez for Senior Supt. Rodrigo to test-drive.