Hostage-taker leads cops on 7-hour chase

MANILA, Philippines - A man who used a grenade to take two men hostage in Manila Saturday night led police officers on a chase that ended with an explosion at a Caloocan City police station.

Von Altreg, 33, took two men hostage in Sampaloc, Manila at around 10:30 p.m. and commandeered a tricycle to escape roadblocks set up by the Manila Police District (MPD), Quezon City Police District (QCPD), and the Northern Police District (NPD), Caloocan police chief Senior Superintendent Bernard Tambaoan said.

Altreg, who was arrested more than seven hours later, told investigators he was on his way home to Craig street at around 10 p.m. when a group of men having a drinking spree on the sidewalk tried to bully him.

He left the area, but returned armed with a grenade. The men ran and sought the assistance of police officers from the Blumentritt precinct.

Altreg, with Manila police officers chasing him, reached the house of 29-year-old Jovito Lacsamana, whom he took as a hostage as he fled toward P. Florentino street.

The commotion attracted the attention of Barangay 513 councilman Dante Brillantes, who boarded a barangay patrol vehicle and tried to intervene.

Altreg, who was surrounded by police officers, summoned Brillantes and told him to use his megaphone to warn the lawmen that he will throw the grenade if he is not allowed to escape.

Altreg also ordered the barangay official to ferry him and Lacsamana toward Quezon City.

Blocked, cornered

However, police officers from QCPD Station 1 set up a roadblock and joined the chase. They also alerted the NPD, which set up its own chokepoints at the boundary of Manila and Caloocan and at the corner of A. Mabini street and C-3 Road.

Altreg, still with his hostages, was cornered in a burger kiosk along A. Mabini street at around 2:30 a.m. Police negotiators failed to convince Altreg to surrender – the suspect demanded that he be set free.

Members of the Caloocan police’s Special Reaction Unit (SRU) arrived and cordoned off the area.

Tambaoan arrived at the scene at around 3:30 a.m. and set a 6 a.m. deadline for Altreg’s surrender.

Chief Inspector Ilustre Mendoza, Caloocan police Sub-station 2 commander, convinced Altreg to release his hostages and accompany him to his office. According to Tambaoan, Altreg went with Mendoza but did not surrender his grenade.

At around 5:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the deadline, Altreg grabbed Mendoza and tried to put the grenade in his shirt while they were in the police official’s office. A scuffle ensued and Mendoza pushed the suspect before running out.

Altreg followed him and lobbed the grenade, which hit the door of the police sub-station and exploded. He was subsequently shot by SRU personnel and taken to the Caloocan Medical Center for treatment.

Altreg faces charges for violating the Omnibus Election Code, illegal possession of explosives, grave coercion, four counts of illegal detention, and multiple counts of frustrated murder.