The owner of the vehicle that killed a 23-year-old bicycle-riding nurse in a hit-and-run incident in Manila surrendered to the Manila Police District (MPD) on Thursday afternoon.
However, the camp of the owner, identified by police as Saudah Bacaye, claimed that she was not in possession of her pick-up truck for two weeks already when the incident that killed Renz Perez on Aug. 23 happened.
"Natrace natin yung conduction sticker... Nagkaroon ng operation at kaninang umaga, natagpuan itong owner ng sasakyan doon sa may business establishment sa Quezon City. So sumama naman itong owner (We were able to trace them through conduction sticker. So we held an operation and early this morning, we found the vehicle's owner at a business establishment in Quezon City)," MPD spokesman and public information office chief, Lt. Col. Carlo Manuel, said in an interview with reporters.
"Pero ayun nga, sinasabi nila na hindi sila yung nagdadrive noong sasakyan nila. Pero inaamin nila na sa kanila yung sasakyan (But as what they were saying, they were not the ones driving the car. But they admitted, they're the owners)," he added.
Grilled by reporters, the owner's lawyer, William Delos Santos, said that they still could not release and refused to release the identity of the suspect pending investigation.
"We cannot divulge the identity at this time. But it's not our client," Delos Santos said, referring to Bacaye.
"We will not give any statement at this time but rest assured that we will cooperate in settling the matter," he added, noting that the owner just knew that their vehicle was involved in a vehicular accident and that "there was no intention to hide from authorities."
Perez died on Sunday evening after he was hit by a pick-up truck on Maria Orosa St. while riding his newly-purchased bicycle. A witness told police that the vehicle then sped off toward Delpan Bridge.
For the meantime, police said the owner of the vehicle might face civil liability as they are still establishing evidence to file criminal charges against her.
Read more: Nurse dies in hit-and-run incident in Manila