NCRPO: Case vs Jaworski son strong

MANILA, Philippines - The National Capital Region Police Office has a tight case against Ryan Jaworski, who was arrested for gunrunning and engaging police officers in a shootout, NCRPO director Chief Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said yesterday.

Pagdilao issued his reaction after the camp of Jaworski asked the court Wednesday to drop the charges against him in relation to the alleged gunrunning.

“Actually, the resolution of the fiscal calling for the filing of charges against his companion, Joselito Au, in court would bear us out,” he said in an interview.

Pagdilao said the NCRPO has strong pieces of evidence against Jaworski and Au, among them the findings of the Scene of the Crime Office.

“We are confident that with the evidence we recovered, the statements of our witnesses would warrant the conviction of Jaworski and Au in court,” he said.

In a motion to dismiss all charges, Jaworski’s lawyers Richard Nethercott and Terence John Awang argued that the sting staged by the NCRPO’s Regional Police Intelligence Operations Unit (RPIOU) was flawed and illegal.

According to Jaworski, the entrapment was based on a tip that a certain Ryan Jaworski was allegedly offering an unlicensed M4 rifle for sale. However, he said the firearm he intended to sell was a licensed Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun.

According to Pagdilao, the sting to catch Jaworski, 40, was set up by an informant following reports that he is selling an M4 Armalite rifle for P120,000.

The operation did not materialize after Jaworski sensed the presence of the lawmen and fled, triggering a shootout, according to Pagdilao.

Jaworski and his driver, Au, 52, were arrested at the Makati Medical Center, where the former senator’s son sought treatment for a bullet wound in the leg.

Jaworski was charged with direct assault, attempted murder and violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Act of 2013.

In a four-page resolution dated Sept. 23, senior assistant city prosecutor Gaudencio Tolledo recommended the filing of four counts of attempted murder and two counts of physical injuries against Joselito Au. The case was raffled off yesterday to Regional Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon.

Tolledo also recommended that a preliminary investigation be held on the illegal possession of firearms and direct assault charges against Au “to determine who among the occupants of the vehicle had possession of the… shotgun found in the compartment of their vehicle.”