NATION

Cops involved in Koreans’ robbery incident nabbed

Jonas Reyes

Angeles City, Pampanga — The Angeles City Police Office (ACPO) and the Meycauayan City Police Station (MCPS) have arrested the robbery suspects — some active members of the police — who allegedly targeted Korean nationals in Angeles City on 31 December 2024.

According to Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr., the ACPO headed by PCol. Amado Mendoza Jr. and the MCPS arrested four suspects during a follow-up investigation and review of CCTV footages within the vicinity of the incidents.

The ACPO Police Station 4 “confirmed that there were individuals roaming around our area and committing nefarious activities such as robbery,” Police Major Marlon C. Ventus, head of the station, said the four suspects were not residents of Angeles City.

In a related development, Ventus said the Meycauayan Police Station on 28 December 2024 arrested four suspects for violation of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunitions Law and RA 9165 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The four suspects, including three active PNP members, were arrested along El Camino Road in Barangay Perez, Meycauayan, Bulacan.

The suspects were identified as Patrolman Reineil Basilio Panuelos, 34-year-old AWOL PNP member, and resident of Caloocan City; Police Cpl. Jayson Medallada Benitez, 30-year-old resident of Caloocan City; Police Staff Sargeant Mark Raian Vicente Dugay, 37-year-old resident of Caloocan City; and Police Staff Sargeant Noriel Macaraeg Lucena, 32-year-old resident of Caloocan City.

Ventus said the four suspects are currently detained at the Meycauayan Police Station. Formal charges have already been lodged against the four suspects at the Meycauayan City Prosecutor’s Office under Docket No. III-08-INQ-24-L-00456 duly signed by Assistant City Prosecutor Marie Claire Therese C. Lambino.

Ventus said ACPO has coordinated with the Meycauayan Police and verified the four suspects “have resemblance, based on the motorcycle used, clothes they were wearing, physical features” based on CCTV footages obtained from the place of incidents in Angeles City.