Cop faces dismissal for killing trike driver

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
THE police personnel who shot and killed a tricycle driver after accusing the latter of trying to steal his motorcycle is now facing dismissal from service for the crime.
Police Regional Office 11 – Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division (PRO11 – RIDMD) head Senior Superintendent Joseph B. Sepulchre said that with the murder case filed against Police Officer (PO) 2 Jozel S. Jorolan, the policeman will automatically be charged with an administrative case.
The penalty for grave misconduct, Sepulchre said, is dismissal.
“Considering the fact of the case, we assure you that he will be dismissed in the service,” Sepulchre said during the AFP-PNP Press Corps briefing at The Royal Mandaya Hotel yesterday.
Unlike the criminal case that he needs to prove his innocence,Sepulchre said the administrative case only needs substantial evidence to pin him down.
“It does not mean to say if he settles his criminal case, he will also settle his administrative case,” he said.
Sepulchre said the moment he receives the documents on the case, he will resolved this case within 60 days.
DCPO spokesperson Senior Inspector Milgrace C. Driz said the administrative case against Jorolan is being processed after PRO11 Regional Director Chief Superintendent Wendy Rosario and DCPO director Senior Superintendent Vicente D. Danao Jr., ordered the office to expedite the administrative case.
“Dapat madali ni masolusyonan kay naa man siya’y (We should hasten the resolution on this since there is a) private complainant,” she said.
Driz said Jorolan confessed to her last Tuesday that he shot the driver, Mario I. Magno, after thinking that the victim was trying to steal his motorcycle.
The Tugbok Police Station charged Jorolan for murder and was submitted for inquest procedure before the City Prosecution Office (CPO) Tuesday afternoon.
The 33-year-old Jorolan is a membe r of the DCPO’s City Public Safety Company
The police report cited the testimony of Joseph S. Bajinting, a security guard of One Network Bank ,who was on duty at the time of the shooting.
Bajinting said Jorolan arrived at the area at around 7:45 p.m. on February 23 and parked his motorcycle in front of the terminal.
Bajinting said that when Jorolan had walked about five meters, his motorcycle fell to the ground.
Magno then picked it up and returned it to its standing position.
At this juncture, Bajinting said Jorolan shot Magno several times for no apparent reason, killing him on the spot.
The police report said Jorolan tried unsuccessfully to evade arrest when police officers responded to the incident. Seized from his possession was a 9 mm pistol which was identified by the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) as his service firearm based on the serial number.
The SOCO also recovered from the crime scene one empty magazine and one loaded magazine with seven bullets, 23 empty shells, and a deformed slug.