BAGUIO CITY – A 42-year-old man who pretended to be a policeman and demanded money from a driver was arrested by alert police on Upper Session Road here on June 27.
The suspect was identified as Jerry Fines Farnacio, 42, single, barker, and resident of Barangay Sanitary Camp, Brookside Baguio, City with provincial address at Ortiz, Naguilian, La Union.
According to the investigation, the victim, Ronald Mendoza dela Vega, 48, was driving a minibus in the Plaza-Trancoville route. When he passed the intersection of Trancoville and Sanitary Camp, the suspect boarded the minibus.
When they were at Magsaysay Ave., the suspect approached the victim and asked for money but the victim said that his collection was not enough to pay his boundary.
The suspect allegedly got upset and introduced himself as a police officer and showed his identification card with the Philippine National Police logo at the same time threatening and forcing him to ask for money.
According to the victim, to avoid trouble because the other passengers were afraid, the victim took the cash collection from the dashboard and handed P100 to the suspect.
The driver had the opportunity to call the personnel of the Traffic Enforcement Unit based on Upper Session Road, who waited for the minibus to pass and caught the suspect sitting inside.
Recovered from the suspect was a P100 bill and a PNP retiree ID with the name of one SPO2 Leo Emilio Crispin Jr.
The suspect is now under the custody of BCPO-Abanao Police Station 7 and will be charged with robbery with intimidation and estafa.