Three suspects involved in several robbery cases, and one of them in the fatal shooting of a victim, in Bacolod City escaped from the detention cell of the police station of Bago City, Negros Occidental, between 3 to 4 a.m. yesterday by sawing off the iron grills at its window.
A province-wide search was launched against Aries Chicuva, 27, of Brgy. 39, Ryan Dela Torre, 21, of Brgy. 13 and Michael Victor Vergara, 18, of Brgy. 13, all residents of Bacolod, City Police Director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz said.
The three were apprehended by members of the Public Safety Company led by Supt. Armando Tobongbanua at a check-point operation in Bangga Sampinit at about 12:30 a.m. Friday while they were on board a tricycle, police records showed.
A homemade shotgun, or “sulpak”, with two ammunitions, and suspected dried marijuana leaves were recovered from Chicuva; and two homemade shotguns with four bullets as well as a bladed weapon from Vergara and De La Torre, respectively, police records also showed.
Senior Police Officer 2 Reynaldo Abijito, who is in charge of the jail, checked on the detainees at about 1 a.m. yesterday and they were still there. However, when he checked on them again at about 4 a.m., the three were missing, Insp. Jerry Nacion, deputy chief of Bago City police said.
The two other unidentified inmates at the cell, where Vergara, Chicuva and De la Torre were detained, did not join them when they escaped, Nacion also said.
He said Abijito has been asked to submit his written explanation as to why he failed to thwart the escape.
Police investigation showed that Chicuva was positively identified by a witness as the one who held up and fatally shot lending firm manager Jocelyn Genovea in Brgy, Pahanocoy, Bacolod in January this year, and was also involved in the robbery of St. Ezekiel Moreno Monastery in Purok San Roque in Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod last month.
Chicuva also has three arrest warrants for attempted murder, three arrest warrants for murder, and another for frustrated murder charges issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Anastacio Rufon, De la Paz said.
Rufon set Chicuva’s bail at P120,000 for each count of attempted murder charges and P20,000 for the frustrated murder charges, but denied him bail for the murder charges, De la Paz also said.
He added that De la Torre is also involved in a robbery hold-up in the area of Police station 2 and was apprehended by Special Operations Task Group headed by Supt. Santiago Rapiz before.
The public is urged to immediately report to the nearest police stations if they know the whereabouts of the suspects, who are considered “armed and dangerous.”*APN back
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