Cop kills 1 of 4 men who stole his motorbike

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman shot dead one of four men who reportedly tried to make off with his motorcycle in Sta. Mesa, Manila Sunday night.

Police Officer 1 Michael Maravillas, 34, detailed at the Full Support Battalion of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force, surrendered a .9mm pistol he said he wrested away from one of the suspects and used to shoot Christian Pabalan, 21.

Pabalan was declared dead on the spot. An improvised picklock was recovered from his person.

According to Police Officer 3 Alonzo Ayugan, barangay councilman Alan Unarse noticed four men, three of them wearing jackets with police markings, stealing a parked Yamaha Mio Fino motorcycle owned by Maravillas. When he told Maravillas, the lawman rushed out of the house and ran after the carjackers. He caught up with the group in front of a burger stand along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard.

Maravillas introduced himself as a policeman and the owner of the motorcycle being driven by one of the suspects. However, the rider pulled out a gun that prompted Maravillas to grapple for its possession. When he took control of the gun, another suspect fired at him. Maravillas retaliated and hit one of the suspects who was later identified as Pabalan, whose companions left him and drove off their motorcycles toward Quezon City.

Chief Inspector Rayan Ador, chief of the anti-carjacking section of the Manila Police District, confirmed that Pabalan was in their “order of battle,” a list of suspected carjackers operating in the Sampaloc area. Pabalan was also reportedly a member of a carjack ring allegedly led by Ernesto Gutierrez Jr. alias “JR Bait,” Ador added.

“The modus operandi of the gang is to spot parked and unattended motorcycles and steal them. They are so adept in stealing any type of motorcycle, even without its ignition keys,” Ador told The STAR.