An employee of the Manila City Hall was arrested after he extorted money from a street vendor in Ermita, Manila on Friday, July 19.
The Manila Police District (MPD) identified the suspect as Christian Lopez, 48, a resident of Tondo, Manila and personnel of Manila Hawkers under Manila Bureau of Permits.
According to complainant Pamela Montoya, the suspect introduced himself as a personnel of Hawkers of the Manila City Hall who was assigned to remove road obstructions in Manila.
She said the suspect was demanding P500 from her in exchange for her stay in the area.
The suspect also threatened her that he will destroy her food cart if she fails to comply with his demand.
The suspect also mentioned to the victim that he will give the money to the Special Mayor’s Reaction Team (SMaRT) office.
The MPD operatives immediately conducted a surveillance to verify the veracity of the information and launched an entrapment operation against the suspect.
The suspect was brought to SMaRT office for documentation of the case.