Six policemen accused of stealing P14,000 cash from a street vendor last month were charged with robbery before the Caloocan City Prosecutor’s Office, a police official said Tuesday, April 5.
Col. Samuel Mina, Caloocan City Police Station (CCPS) chief, told Manila Bulletin that the complainant, Eddie Yuson, 39, a resident of Brgy. 117, Caloocan City, filed the charges against the police officers on Monday, April 4.
Based on the blotter report of Barangay 117, Yuson claimed that he was standing at the corner of Rizal Avenue and 4th Street at around 9:00 p.m. on March 27 when a man who introduced himself as a police officer, along with five others, approached him.
Yuson said the men then declared a holdup and tried to take his bag containing money, a notebook with several documents, identification and ATM cards.
The incident was caught on a close-circuit television (CCTV) camera, wherein one of the suspects was seen hitting the head of the resisting street vendor.
Mina confirmed that the suspects were all police corporals from the CCPS Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) who were conducting a legitimate anti-drug operation in the area when the incident happened.
The policemen approached Yuson and told him to leave the area since they are conducting an operation. However, the street vendor resisted which prompted them to check his items.
According to the police chief, one of the operatives admitted that he hit Yuson during the search but they denied the robbery accusation.
The cops said they are also willing to take a polygraph or lie detector test.
Mina said he encouraged Yuson to file charges against the six policemen to let the court decide on the case.
The six police officers were temporarily relieved from their post, he added.