Cop fights off 3 jeepney holdup men

Barely 15 hours after a Camp Crame policeman was killed in a fierce shootout with a jeepney holdup man in Sampaloc, a Manila policeman played hero by fighting off three holdup men inside a cruising passenger jeepney along Taft Avenue Tuesday night.

Luckily this time, SPO1 Carlito Mendoza of the Western Police District-Mobile Patrol and Support Unit sustained only cuts and bruises when he figured in a scuffle with one of the armed holdup men, whom he managed to arrest. Recovered from the suspect, Jonathan Montemayor, 20, of Maestranza Compound, Intramuros, Manila, were a cellular phone and an icepick.

According to Mendoza, he was on board a passenger jeepney on his way to WPD headquarters at around 9:15 p.m. when the three holdup men armed with sharp weapons announced the holdup on their ascent of the Lagusnilad on Taft Avenue. Mendoza said he was seated at the rear of the passenger jeepney and tried to draw his service pistol but Montemayor poked an icepick at his neck and cautioned him to remain seated. When Montemayor was about to divest the cop of his wristwatch and firearm, Mendoza jumped out of the speeding jeepney, grabbing the suspect's hand and causing both of them to roll onto the pavement. After a brief scuffle, Mendoza disarmed the suspect, then fired a warning shot at the speeding jeepney.