The latest mishap involving this type of city police patrol car -this one detailed to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch- and a Suzuki multicab belonging to the City Traffic Operations and Management.
The patrol car, detailed to the CIIB outpost at the SRP, was driven by 57-year-old civilian employee Rogelio Hige, and was on a routine patrol while the multicab was driven by 41-year-old Elvira Ortega, a traffic enforcer of Citom.
Investigator SPO1 Dionisio Galo said the two government vehicles were running toward the southern part of the highway and both, abreast to each other, took the lanes next to the island on their way to make a U-turn.
Shortly after the opposite part of the highway got cleared of traffic, the multi-cab made a U-turn but it did so by moving left and cutting through the lane of the patrol car.
As the multicab reached the other side of the highway and took the outer lane, the patrol car followed to make a U-turn and took the lane left to the multicab. When the patrol car drove past the multi-cab, the multicab hit its right side, from the backseat passenger door up to the car's rear part.
The impact was deemed light and nobody got injured in the mishap but the multicab's bumper and front fender on the left side were damaged also.
CIIB chief, Supt. Paul Labra, said last night that he got a feedback of the case from Citom and he was informed that the Citom multicab was actually assigned to the downtown area and the agency has looked into why it was in SRP.
Labra added that the Citom legal office has put Ortega under investigation for using the multi-cab for alleged "practice driving" at the SRP.
Further investigation then conclude that the Isuzu multicab was at fault due to the positioning of the vehicles on the sketch and the nature of its damage as no one were also injured during the accident as the Isuzu multi-cab only made a slow impact when it bumped the Innova car.
It was the second time that a City Police patrol car, of the Innova model, met an accident at the SRP. The first was last February 27 when a prime mover swiped the left side of the patrol car with PO2 Herbert Solon and PO1 Raymund Aballe on board.
The two policemen were on their way back to the city proper after bringing a member of the Scene of the Crime Operation to barangay Basak where a thievery occurred. - Flor Z. Perolina/RAE