Cops kill van rape suspect

MANILA, Philippines - Another man tagged in the rape of two women in a passenger van in Quezon City over the weekend was killed by police officers before dawn yesterday.

Also yesterday, two more women who claimed to have been robbed by the slain suspect’s alleged partner-in-crime went to the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Alfie Palana Turado, 34, alias Buddy, was shot twice in the police car while police officers were escorting him to his house in Barangay Pasong Tamo, where he allegedly kept loot stolen from the two women he and fellow suspect Wilfredo Lorenzo allegedly raped, said Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief Superintendent Rodelio Marcelo.

Turado was shot when he reportedly grabbed the gun of one of the police officers with him as they were traveling along Tandang Sora Avenue at around 3 a.m.

He and Lorenzo, who was arrested on Monday, reportedly robbed and raped two passengers, aged 22 and 27, in a colorum UV Express van they drove on Saturday night.

The women claimed they were repeatedly raped for about four hours before the suspects left them hogtied in a parking lot in Barangay Sauyo at around 2 a.m. Sunday.

Chased

Turado was declared dead on arrival at the East Avenue Medical Center from gunshots to the neck and chest before 4 a.m., said Senior Inspector Elmer Monsalve, who heads the city police’s homicide investigation division.

The suspect was arrested around two hours earlier after residents chased him and beat him up when he tried to escape by running on rooftops in Barangay Obrero.

Marcelo said Lorenzo pointed police officers to Barangays Pinyahan and Obrero as areas he and Turado frequented to use drugs.

When Turado was brought to the QCPD-CIDU office at Camp Karingal, he admitted to robbing the women but not raping them. 

He claimed Lorenzo ordered him to drive the van at gunpoint, contrary to the victims’ allegations, Marcelo said.

A taxi driver identified Turado, who also went by the aliases Budong and Lakay, and pointed investigators to taxi operators who used to employ the suspect as a driver.

Marcelo said the women the suspects reportedly raped last week were happy with the progress of the case, which police consider closed.

Two more victims

Meanwhile, two more women accused Lorenzo of robbing them.

They said they boarded a white van driven by Lorenzo along EDSA on the morning of March 19. They were later handcuffed and blindfolded.

When the women tried to escape, Lorenzo punched them and detained them in the van from around 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.

They said Lorenzo taped their eyes shut, forced them to put on sunglasses and threatened to kill them as he drove around Metro Manila.

Lorenzo withdrew P3,000 from the bank account of one of the victims and took P1,000 in cash, a mobile phone and an iPod Nano, the victims said.

Lorenzo dumped them in Barangay Veterans Village in Quezon City and the victims sought help from workers at a convenience store in the area.

Marcelo said the two victims went to the police after seeing Lorenzo’s image on social media websites.  – With Christian Imperio