Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Detainee linked to Korean’s shooting
TWO witnesses identified the 21-year-old man earlier arrested for alleged possession of a firearm as one of two robbers that victimized a Korean national last weekend.
Through a lineup done by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) yesterday morning, the two witnesses, who are minors, pointed to Eric Z. Campasas as the driver of the motorcycle boarded by the armed robber that held up and shot No Hyung Tae, 26, at 6:10 p.m. last Saturday.
Tae hails from Busan, South Korea and is a student of JIC Tutorial Language Corp. at Trinity Plaza Tower, Gonzales Compound in Camputhaw. He was shot by the robber with a .38 revolver when he tried to fight back. The robbers took his Motorola V3 cellular phone worth P7,000.
He was taken to Perpetual Succour Hospital for a gunshot wound in the thigh.
Identified
Campasas was made to line up together with plainclothes police personnel inside the CIIB office. The witnesses, viewing through a one-way mirror, identified him.
Campasas of Sitio Malabitoon in Barangay Mabunga, Gui-hulngan, Negros Oriental was arrested in possession of an unlicensed power custom Smith and Wesson .357 revolver loaded with five bullets during a saturation drive inside a downtown videoke bar a few hours after the robbery.
A .38 empty shell was also recovered from Campasas’ firearm.
Theft and Robbery Section Chief Michael Bastes, however, said they will wait for Tae to identify him and submit an affidavit before they file complaints of robbery with physical injuries against Campasas.
Denials
Bastes said they were advised by the hospital to return later in the week or next week because the victim is not yet available to issue a statement.
He said a Korean interpreter has volunteered to help when police takes down the statements and affidavit of Tae.
Campasas, who is detained at the city police stockade, denied ownership of the gun, as well as participation in the robbery.
Campasas said he arrived in the city in the first week of November to work in a construction project in Barangay Banilad.
He said he was surprised police arrested him when the gun found was not from his table but from an adjacent table.
He accused police of forcing him to own up to the crime. (JST)
