Pasay probers seek CCTV image of cop-killer

MANILA, Philippines - Pasay police investigators are coordinating with the United States and Japanese embassies to secure footage taken by their closed-circuit television cameras to help identify the man who shot and killed a Manila traffic policeman on July 13.

Police Officer 2 Jesus Lapuz, 41, was repeatedly shot in front of the Japanese embassy along Roxas Boulevard after he chased and accosted a motorcycle-riding man.

Initial reports said Lapuz tried to accost a man on a motorcycle for a traffic violation somewhere in Ermita area but the man, instead of yielding, sped off toward Roxas Boulevard, with the policeman chasing behind.

A witness said Lapuz, who was driving a big bike, finally closed in on the man in front of the Japanese embassy, but he did not realize he was being followed by the man’s companion, who was on another motorcycle. When Lapuz stopped, one of the men shot him.

Superintendent Samuel Turla, city deputy police chief, said the CCTV cameras of the Japanese embassy and the US embassy’s Seafront compound may have captured the image of Lapuz’s killer.

“We are still waiting for the report if the CCTV (camera) of the US and Japanese embassies captured the image of the killer,” he said.

He said the shooting was captured by the Metro Manila Development Authority CCTV camera near the Gil Puyat flyover, but the footage only showed the policeman sprawled on the pavement, not the gunman’s face.

Turla said an eyewitness is cooperating with investigators on the possible identity of the killer.

Lapuz slain by fleeing robber?

Manila Police District (MPD) spokesman Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo told The STAR that a moneychanger’s shop in Ermita was robbed a few minutes before Lapuz accosted his suspected killer.

He said a sketch of the robber had “a seemingly distinct resemblance to Lapuz’s killer as far as the (CCTV) footage was concerned,” referring to the video of the attack on Lapuz.

Margarejo said Lapuz, who was formerly assigned as a security escort of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, would be interred at the MPD and would be given a commendation.

He said PO3 Raffy Habil, Lapuz’s partner, already gave his statement to the homicide section. Police officers at the MPD said Lapuz was left alone chasing the suspects and Habil should explain why he left his partner alone, if he did.

Habil, in a television interview, said they were on a routine patrol when his partner suddenly disappeared to chase a man riding a motorcycle. He said he did not know what happened next until he was told of the incident.