CEBU - One of the eight detainees who bolted the detention cell of Bogo City Police Station ended up being killed after he was shot by a pursuing policeman in barangay Taytayan shortly before midnight last Sunday.
Mariano Antiquera, 18, a native of Sibonga town, who was detained for theft charges, was declared dead on arrival at the Verallo District Hospital in Bogo City past 10 a.m. yesterday due to loss of blood.
SPO1 Dennis Villamor, who spotted escapees at the shore of brgy. Takop, San Remegio around 9 a.m., was allegedly forced to shot Antiquera on the right leg when the latter allegedly shot him first, but missed using a .38 caliber revolver.
Villamor, one of the personnel of Bogo City Police Station, happened to be a resident of the area.
Recovered from Antiquera’s possession was a .38 caliber revolver with three live rounds of ammunitions and one empty shell.
Police said that the eight detainees, six of them minors, escaped from Bogo Police Station detention cell shortly before midnight last Sunday by bending and detaching two of the iron bars at the portion of their cell’s window.
Edwin Camento, 21, a native of Sibonga who was jailed for theft, and the six minor detainees aged 15 to 17 years old, were recaptured and brought back to detention.
Reports said that the suspects escaped detention unnoticed by the jailguard on duty, SPO1 Edwin Cavalida, who was allegedly inside the police station when the incident took place.
Shortly before midnight, Cavalida returned to the detention cell, which is located about four meters away from the back of the police station and found out that the detainees have already escaped.
Cavalida and his companions immediately conducted a manhunt operation to recapture all escapees.
SPO1 Rogel Layson said that Villamor recaptured the escapees after receiving information from his companions that they were trailing down the shores of San Remegio in search for the suspects.
When Villamor spotted the escapees, he fired a warning shot prompting them to lie on the ground.
However, Antiquera allegedly pulled out a revolver and shot at the policeman forcing the latter to shot him in the leg.
Police said the eight escapees were still together that time because they allegedly had no money to use in escaping on their own.
For his part, Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Carmelo Valmoria immediately ordered the filing of criminal and administrative charges against Cavalida for infidelity in the custody of prisoner with a recommended bail of P6,000.
Valmoria also defended Villamor for shooting one of the escapees, saying he did a legitimate operation.
He likewise assigned Supt. Romeo Perigo, deputy police director for operation of the CPPO, to conduct an investigation into incident and look into the liability of Bogo Police Station chief Tito Satera who was allegedly not around when the escape happened.
The minor detainees were supposed to be transferred to the rehabilitation center but the police were allegedly still waiting for the commitment of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Last Friday, Valmoria said that he conducted an inspection on all the prisons in northern Cebu including Bogo jail as part of their activities.
“It is my instruction to regularly check jails but the bottom line is on security consciousness of jail guards. They don’t have to wait for the inspection of the CPPO,” Valmoria said. -/WAB (THE FREEMAN)