It was the 10th traffic-related case involving the Cebu City Hall-issued Innova vans that CCPO used as patrol cars since October last year.
PO2 Meonik Cabañero, PO2 Jojit Ranile and PO1 Remos Goco were responding to a trouble alarm past 2 a.m. when the incident occurred.
The driver was maneuvering to the right when it hit the trisikad, causing a 13-inch gash on the vehicle’s rear right door.
The trisikad was parked in an unlighted portion of the street that the van driver did not see it because it was dark.
The policemen impounded the trisikad at the Mobile Patrol Group office (MPG), North Reclamation Area.
The string of incidents involving the Innovas prompted the CCPO to initiate last March a training program for policemen driving patrol cars, particularly those detailed at the MPG.
The first incident involved a Korean student who nonchalantly walked towards a patrol car parked along Archbishop Reyes Ave. and swung a chair at two police officers.
The suspect, who was charged with three criminal cases, hit the vehicle instead.
Another van was also damaged on its way out of a motel when it hit a parked taxicab.
The incident prompted Mayor Tomas Osmeña to initially recall all Innova units issued to the police; he later sent them back.
Last Feb. 7, another van that was responding to an alarm hit a motorcycle and injured its two passengers in Barangay Capitol Site.
A tartanilla (horse-drawn contraption) also dented an Innova during a Barangay Duljo Fatima checkpoint.
Last Feb. 26, another van was crushed when it collided with a prime mover truck on its way to Talisay City. (JST)
