Man hit, killed by sleeping driver in Tabogon

A 75-YEAR-OLD man died after he was hit by a service pick-up vehicle of a power utility firm while having refreshments outside a bakeshop in Barangay Poblacion, Tabogon town, northern Cebu around Saturday dawn, May 21, 2022.

Blas Fuentes, a resident of Barangay Cogon East, Carmen town, northern Cebu, was declared dead-on-arrival just after paramedics brought him to a public hospital. He had sustained several fatal wounds on his body which may contributed to his untimely death.

Fuentes, who works as a “bangkero” or financer for games of chance, was sitting on the roadside and was sipping a cup of coffee at a bakeshop in Barangay Poblacion just before the incident happened.

Fuentes was waiting for a ride home to Carmen after attending a town fiesta at Tabogon on Friday, May 20, when Nico Metante, a lineman working for the Cebu Electric Cooperative, suddenly drove his company-owned pickup towards the old man.

Corporal Ian Gesite of the Tabogon Police Station told SunStar Cebu that Metante, a resident of Barangay Libertad, Bogo City, reportedly lost control of his vehicle after he fell asleep in the wheel.

Metante immediately turned himself in to the police after the incident. He was found negative in a liquor test conducted by local police.

Gesite said before the incident, Metante and his co-workers came from the neighboring Borbon town to fix power lines and were on their way to their office in Tabogon town.

Metante is currently detained at the Tabogon Police Station pending the filing of charges against him. /