Moonlighting cop kills 2 rob suspects in Navotas heist

A policeman who took on a part-time job as a security escort killed two suspected robbers during a shootout with at least 20 heavily armed men who held up a Banco de Oro (BDO) roving teller at the Navotas City Fish Port Complex (NFPC) before dawn yesterday.

Police Officer 1 Leonardo Lepardo, detailed at the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response, who moonlights as a security escort of Frabelle Fishing Corp. at the Navotas FPC, was hailed for killing alleged robber James Uy, 28, a resident of Valenzuela City and another unidentified suspect.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa “commended PO1 Lepardo for his bravery and I will also be recommending him for promotion because of that,” Metro Manila police chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil, who conducted an ocular inspection of the crime scene, told The STAR.

Navotas City police chief Senior Superintendent Eric Reyes said that at around 3:30 a.m., at least 20 men in four vehicles – a blue Isuzu Bighorn, two white Toyota Revos, and a red sedan, all without license plates – robbed the Frabelle fish stall collection office, wielding M16 and M14 rifles.

The suspects, some wearing military camouflage uniforms, disarmed Frabelle and BDO security guards Silvestre Duroon and Rolando Lapus. They forced open the door of the collection office and took an undetermined amount of cash from the unnamed BDO roving teller.

A BDO armored vehicle was supposed to pick up Frabelle Fishing’s night collection but the robbers got ahead of the bank’s car.

While the robbers were about to escape with the loot, another security guard, Russell Cabanot, tried to stop them but was shot by the suspects. He was critically wounded.

Lepardo, a sharpshooter trained by the police Special Action Force in night-encounter tactics, fired back at the fleeing robbers using his M16 rifle and was able to kill two of them.

In the exchange of gunfire, at least five bystanders were hit by stray bullets and were brought to hospitals for treatment, NFPC security officer Arfil Catipay said.

Catipay said the robbers escaped through Road 10 en route to Manila using a private gate of the Rock Energy International Corp. compound.

Catipay said the suspects entered the same gate at around 1:30 a.m. Rock Energy detailed guard Elpidio Mitra opened the gate for the suspects’ vehicles thinking they were port officials but was surprised when the armed men accosted and hogtied him.

Bataoil formed Task Force Dolfin headed by Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Eric Javier and Metro Manila Maritime police chief Senior Superintendent Freddie Panen, to investigate the heist.

The task force is still investigating the Rock Energy guard and two motorcycle-riding men apprehended outside the NFPC main gate with a .45 caliber pistol. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe