Manila cop nabbed after car chase

MANILA, Philippines — A policeman was arrested following a car chase after he figured in a shooting in Ermita, Manila early yesterday morning.

Police Officer 2 Bernardino Cruz, 48, assigned with the Manila City Hall Action and Special Assignment and a son of a barangay chairman in Tondo, was in a silver Toyota Innova (ABR-4661) when he was nabbed at the corner of Reina Regente and Felipe streets in Binondo at around 5 a.m.

Prior to the chase, Cruz was reportedly waiting for his colleague in front of a restaurant in Ermita when Archie Solatorio, 26, and his friends mistook him for a Grab driver.

Cruz said he told Solatorio’s group that he is not a Grab driver.

“But they started cursing me and gave me the dirty finger,” he said.

Cruz said the group ganged up on him. He accidentally fired his gun, hitting Solatorio in the process.

Solatorio was taken to the Manila Doctors Hospital for treatment.

Renato Rosallos III, a parking attendant, witnessed the incident.

Manila Police District (MPD) director Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr. ordered the filing of administrative charges against Cruz, saying he would not tolerate any wrongdoing of his men.

Reports said Cruz was drunk at the time of the incident.

Senior Inspector Henry Navarro, chief of the MPD general assignment and investigation unit, said Cruz was charged with frustrated murder during his stint at the MPD Station 1 in 2008.

The case against Cruz remains pending before the Supreme Court.