BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A police officer “absent without official leave” (AWOL) and wanted for multiple criminal charges was arrested in Bacolod City’s Barangay 35.
Police identified the arrested as Patrolman Glenn Garbosa, 33, formerly assigned in Iloilo.
Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Police Station 10 commander Police Major Richard Fajarito said Garbosa had a pending warrant of arrest for violation of Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, as well as robbery with extortion.
The arrest warrant was issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 37.
The charges stemmed from a 2017 incident. Garbosa allegedly extorted thousands of pesos from a retired teacher in Jaro, Iloilo City.
He was caught in an entrapment operation after receiving P12,000 in cash from 65-year-old Rey Fajutrao.
On April 26, 2017 Garbosa went to the house of Fajutrao and introduced himself as an intelligence officer of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
Garbosa then allegedly threatened to arrest the victim for an expired firearms license and offered to renew the license in exchange for some cash.
Fajutrao said he gave Garbosa P37,000 for the license renewal. However, a day later, the suspect returned to the victim’s house and asked for another P40,000.
On April 30, Garbosa again allegedly demanded P40,000, supposedly for the processing of the license, as incident records also show.
On May 1, Garbosa again asked Fajutrao for P10,000 for his fare to head to Manila. The following day, he demanded P46,000 for fingerprinting and another P12,000 on May 4, supposedly for other documents.
Fajutrao did not respond to the last demand, made via text message. He reported the incident to the Jaro district police, which later resulted in Garbosa’s arrest.
Garbosa is being held at Police Station 10 and is waiting to be transferred to Iloilo City to face trial./PN
