Cop beaten up in traffic row

A policeman was beaten up and pistol-whipped with his own gun by three men following a traffic accident in Valenzuela City Friday night.

Police Officer 2 Rico Valenzuela was driving his motorcycle along Santolan Road in Barangay Gen. T. de Leon at around 8:45 p.m. when Rhoniel Dave Lorenzo and his uncle Danilo, who were riding a motorcycle, rear-ended him.

Instead of stopping, the Lorenzos sped away, said Superintendent Reynaldo Medina, assistant city police chief for operations.

Valenzuela gave chase and caught up with them trying to park at a mall. He introduced himself as a police officer, according to Medina.

The suspects, now joined by their friend Danilo Gabriel, attacked Valenzuela.

Gabriel reportedly grabbed Valenzuela’s gun and repeatedly hit him in the face. He pulled the trigger but the gun misfired, Medina said.

Valenzuela ran but the suspects followed him and beat him unconscious, then took his mobile phone.

Bystanders rushed the policeman to the Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, while the suspects went to Police Community Precinct 2 and reported that a man with a 9mm pistol beat them but they were able to grab the gun and escape.

They surrendered Valenzuela’s firearm.

However, Medina ordered a check of closed-circuit television cameras at the scene of the incident and the videos contradicted the suspects’ claims.

The suspects were arrested in a follow- up operation and Valenzuela’s mobile phone was recovered from Gabriel.

The suspects were charged with assault, robbery and physical injuries.