Wednesday, January 09, 2008 2 suspects fall; one admits slay
THE Mandaue City police captured Lauro “Jogro” Lumapas, 24, yesterday afternoon in Barangay Day-as, Cebu City and confiscated from him the .38 revolver he allegedly used to kill SPO1 Pedro Sucion during the weekend.
When the police presented Lumapas and a companion to Mayor Jonas Cortes yesterday, the suspect admitted he shot Sucion and pointed to the gun taken from him as the murder weapon.
Lumapas told reporters he also shot Sucion’s partner, PO2 Darius Conejos, but failed to explain why two different slugs were recovered from the two policemen.
Bearing Regional Trial Court Judge Ulric Cañete’s arrest order for robbery in band, the police barged inside a rented hut at 3 p.m. yesterday and arrested Lumapas.
He and Jonathan Samson, 25, were playing “tong-its” with three other men and five women inside a hut. The house sits beside a creek at the back of the DepEd building on Imus Road, Cebu City.
Authorities recovered from Lumapas the .38 revolver and from Samson, a snub-nosed .38 revolver, both loaded.
Police have yet to find the .22 revolver allegedly used against Conejos.
Lumapas and Samson will need to raise P100,000 as bail if they want to avoid being detained while on trial for robbery.
When he was presented to the mayor, Lumapas admitted harboring a grudge against Sucion. So when their paths crossed that night, he took it as an opportunity to shoot the officer.
Revenge
Lumapas said the slain policeman had ruined his life. He was 16 years old, in school and leading a normal life when the officer allegedly arrested and mauled him in 1999 for offenses involving illegal drugs.
But during yesterday’s press conference, Lumapas gave conflicting statements.
He said only he and Leo de la Victoria staged the hold-up that night. He denied that a third suspect, Niño Macasero, was with them—contrary to allegations by the taxi driver they robbed and the driver of their getaway tricycle.
He also claimed that he shot Sucion and Conejos, but failed to explain how he handled two different guns in shooting the two.
He also denied taking Sucion’s service pistol after finishing off the officer.
Acting Mandaue City Police Director Rodel Calungsud said his men are still tracking down Lumapas’ two alleged companions, Macasero and de la Victoria.
Charges
Investigators are preparing murder, frustrated murder and robbery cases against Lumapas, de la Victoria and Macasero. He said these two other suspects also have pending arrest warrants for another robbery in band case.
Lumapas and Samson will also face an illegal possession of firearm case for the guns taken from them yesterday.
A joint team from the Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (IDMB) led by Insp. Rainero Cortes and Police Station 1 led by Siegfred Toribio led the raid on Lumapas’ rented hut.
IDMB officers who requested not to be named said they got initial information on Lumapas from commercial sex workers. Both Lumpas and Samson’s girlfriends are allegedly sex workers.
All the eight persons in the card game were released, as the police had no basis to detain them, investigator PO3 Jun Tago said in a radio dyAB interview. (OCP)
