BACOLOD City – Four detainees who bolted the lockup facility of Police Station 3 in Barangay Mandalagan here separately turned themselves in to authorities.
The four escapees were Sunny Capa, 22; Ely Lawrence Sazon, 20; Michael Peñoso, 25; and Jeffrey Elangos, 38, who escaped at about 12:45 a.m. on Monday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sazon was the first to surrender through the assistance of Radyo Bandera Sweet FM Bacolod. In the evening, Capa yielded to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – Negros Occidental while Peñoso turned himself in through Bombo Radyo Bacolod.
“Now that they are back, it will be to their advantage. (Their surrender) will serve as a mitigating circumstance. If they did not surrender, it would mean they are guilty. They can still defend themselves since they have not been convicted yet,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, spokesperson of the Bacolod City Police Office.
In an interview with members of the media, the four escapees claimed they made the escape because they missed their families, especially Elangos who claimed that his family never visited him.
When asked about the child abuse case filed against him, Elangos admitted he hurt one of his children out of discipline and he had no evil intentions over the incident.
Major Ruel Culanag Police Station 3 chief, said the other reason for the escape may be as a revenge by Sazon and Capa over the P9.1 million drug seizure.
Culanag said both suspects used the escape in order to ruin the station’s career effectively relieving him from duty and also affecting the station’s anti-illegal drugs drive.
However, Culanag pointed out that even if he and the other members of the station were removed from their post, the police operations will still continue.
Police are now waiting for the four’s commitment order for them to be moved to the custody of the Metro Bacolod District Jail.
The detainees will possibly face malicious mischief charges for destroying the property of the police station. They cut off one of the steel bars of the cell using a saw to escape. On Tuesday, the station fortified the cell by adding more steel bars. (With a report from PNA/PN)
