Source: PDI
MANILA, Philippines—The Pasay City police on Monday charged with negligence resulting in homicide five airport police officers in connection with the death of a US Navy officer in December last year.
Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, city police chief, said the charges were based on the affidavit submitted by the victim’s wife who is based in the United States and an internal investigation.
“Based on the evidence, our investigators found that the police officers were neglectful of their duties in extending security to a person in custody, which in this case is Navy Lt. Commander Scintar Mejia,” Cuaton told the Inquirer in a phone interview Monday.
Charged at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s office were Senior Police Officer 2 Roberto Figueras, SPO1 Mateo Aguilas, Police Officers 2 Jay Guinto and Noel Liberted, and PO1 Jomer Zurbano. According to probers, the five were beside the victim when he leaped headfirst into a stairwell at the airport police office, resulting in his death.
On December 26 last year, Mejia was taken into custody by the airport police after he made a scene at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. This was after bag checkers found a sachet of a white powdery substance in his possession, which was believed to be cocaine although later tests indicated that it was not.
Cuaton explained that the autopsy results showed swelling in some parts of the victim’s body but that there was no indication whether it occurred before or after his death.
Foul play was also ruled out and what figured prominently in the investigation was the laxity of the policemen in ensuring the victim’s safety while in custody, he added.
“When you don’t need to talk to any person in custody, you make sure that the suspect is placed in a custodial jail,” Cuaton said. “Mejia should have been placed in [a cell] when the investigators were not talking to him.”
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MANILA, Philippines—The Pasay City police on Monday charged with negligence resulting in homicide five airport police officers in connection with the death of a US Navy officer in December last year.
Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, city police chief, said the charges were based on the affidavit submitted by the victim’s wife who is based in the United States and an internal investigation.
“Based on the evidence, our investigators found that the police officers were neglectful of their duties in extending security to a person in custody, which in this case is Navy Lt. Commander Scintar Mejia,” Cuaton told the Inquirer in a phone interview Monday.
Charged at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s office were Senior Police Officer 2 Roberto Figueras, SPO1 Mateo Aguilas, Police Officers 2 Jay Guinto and Noel Liberted, and PO1 Jomer Zurbano. According to probers, the five were beside the victim when he leaped headfirst into a stairwell at the airport police office, resulting in his death.
On December 26 last year, Mejia was taken into custody by the airport police after he made a scene at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. This was after bag checkers found a sachet of a white powdery substance in his possession, which was believed to be cocaine although later tests indicated that it was not.
Cuaton explained that the autopsy results showed swelling in some parts of the victim’s body but that there was no indication whether it occurred before or after his death.
Foul play was also ruled out and what figured prominently in the investigation was the laxity of the policemen in ensuring the victim’s safety while in custody, he added.
“When you don’t need to talk to any person in custody, you make sure that the suspect is placed in a custodial jail,” Cuaton said. “Mejia should have been placed in [a cell] when the investigators were not talking to him.”
