Wanted cop slayer finally falls
POLICE officers serve a warrant of arrest against alias ‘Ben,’ a laborer wanted in connection with the stabbing of Police Senior Master Sgt. Zaldy dela Peña, in Sitio Bayabas, Barangay Mabini, Mulanay, Quezon.
Photograph courtesy of Quirino Ppo Valley Cops/facebook
Police trackdown teams arrested a 30-year-old laborer listed among the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) most wanted persons following a monthslong manhunt over the fatal stabbing of a police officer, authorities said.
The suspect, identified by authorities only as alias Sandia, was apprehended around 3 p.m. in Mulanay, Quezon, under a warrant of arrest for homicide.
Operatives from the 1st Quirino Provincial Mobile Force Company led the operation in coordination with the Quirino Police Provincial Office and Police Regional Office CALABARZON.
The charges stem from the 31 July killing of Police Senior Master Sgt. Zaldy Castillo dela Peña, an officer assigned to the Quirino Police Provincial Office.
Investigators said Dela Peña was at a local convenience store in Barangay San Marcos, Cabarroguis, around 11 p.m. when the suspect and a companion, identified as alias Marlon, arrived to purchase alcohol.
When the store owner requested that the group lower their voices due to the late hour, an argument broke out. Dela Peña intervened to defuse the situation, prompting Sandia to draw a knife and stab the officer on the left side of his chest near the armpit.
Dela Peña was rushed to the Quirino Provincial Medical Center, where attending physicians declared him dead on arrival due to hypovolemic shock from severe blood loss. The suspects fled the scene on a motorcycle following the attack.
Sandia is currently held at the Cabarroguis Police Station for formal processing and documentation prior to the return of the arrest warrant.
“On behalf of our institution, we reaffirm our firm commitment that justice must neither be delayed nor set aside,” said Police Brig. Gen. Mariano C. Rodriguez, commending the joint tracking teams for the suspect’s arrest.