ONE of the suspects in last week’s robbery-slaying of a University of Perpetual Help Las Piñas-College of Medicine dean was arrested on Friday but got killed when, cops said, he tried to grab the firearm of one of the arresting police officers.
The suspect—Rodel Lava, 38, a bus dispatcher and resident of Tanza, Cavite—did not reach the hospital alive due to gunshot wounds in the body.
Lava, according to Metro Manila police director Camilo Cascolan, was identified by Juvy Bandoy Acero, 43, and her live-in partner Dindo Engcoy Legano, 39, as their cohort in killing Dr. Harivelle Charmaine Tapaoan Hernando inside her residence on May. 11.
Cascolan said the Las Piñas police arrested Lava at the suspect’s hideout around 7 a.m. He added the arresting policemen recovered a .45-caliber Norinco from Lava’s possession.
But while traversing the Alabang-Zapote Road in Pamplona on board the police mobile car, Lava, according to the police, tried to grab the service gun of one of the escorts, prompting the lawmen to shoot him.
Records from the Southern Police District showed the suspect was a drug dependent and involved in robbery incidents in the southern part of Metro Manila.
Las Piñas City police commander Marion Balonglong said Hernando was found dead in her house at 43 Molave Street, Dona Manuela, 4C Subdivision, Pamplona 3, Las Piñas City on May 11, 2018.
Balonglong immediately formed a team to conduct an investigation that resulted in the arrest of Acero, maid of Hernando, and Legano, the victim’s terminated driver.
Acero initially denied she was involved in the murder but later confessed that she and Legano who planned and conspired with Lava in the robbery and killing Hernando who sustained multiple stab wounds in different parts of the body.
Investigation showed the suspects tied Hernando before stabbing her to death. The two men later escaped as Acero, pretending to be innocent, went to the police to ask for assistance.
Charges of robbery with homicide have been filed against Acero and Legano before the Las Piñas City prosecutors office.