TV exec who survived mall car crash in trouble

MANILA, Philippines - A 73-year-old television executive whose car plunged three stories from a multilevel parking building of the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan last Friday is in trouble, police said yesterday.

Police said Juanito Nocos, vice president for sales of Basketball TV, underwent a heart bypass surgery and should not have been driving.

Chief Inspector Melchor Rosales, San Juan police deputy chief, said they found out that Nocos was wearing a pacemaker, a small device that is placed in the chest to help control abnormal heartbeat.

Rosales said persons who have undergone bypass surgery are prohibited from driving under Land Transportation Office (LTO) regulations so as not to endanger the lives of other people.

He said charges of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property are being readied against Nocos.

If it is established that he violated the LTO rule, Rosales said the TV executive would face additional charges.

Cathy Ko, general manager of the Shopping Center Division of Ortigas & Co., said in a television interview that Nocos was trying to back out of his parking slot when he passed out and crashed into several vehicles before breaching the carpark wall.

Nocos survived the fall and sustained bruises. He was rushed to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center where he is in stable condition, police said.

The car’s airbag saved him from severe injuries.

Police said a total of nine vehicles were damaged during the accident, including a Toyota Vios, Montero Sport, Honda Jazz, Ford Ranger, Toyota Hi-Ace and Fortuner.

Nocos’ white Mitsubishi sedan crashed into five cars on the third level of the parking building and damaged four more vehicles on the ground floor, police said. 

Earlier reports said Nocos blacked out apparently because of his heart condition and stepped on the accelerator.

He told mall doctors, who initially checked him, that he passed out during the accident.

Ko, however, said witnesses saw him apparently panicking after he bumped into several cars on the third level of the carpark.

She said the mall management placed tarpaulins in the area where the wayward car fell to protect other parked cars and pedestrians.

It took responding policemen and firefighters several hours to untangle the mess using hydraulic equipment.