The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has finally identified the suspect who killed 27-year-old IT professional Anthony Mendoza in a Quezon City road rage on February 25 after tracing the owner of the white Toyota Land Cruiser seen in closed-circuit camera television (CCTV) footages.
Quezon City Police District director Guillermo Eleazar identified yesterday the gunman as a certain Fredison Atienza, alias Son Son.
Mendoza’s elder brother Michael, who witnessed the killing, positively identified the suspect.
A photo retrieved from his Facebook account also matched the artist sketch released by the QCPD the other day.
“Nung pinakita nila sa akin kagabi yan, actually, umiyak po ako agad eh. Naramdaman ko na siyang-siya talaga yan, hindi po ako maaring magkamali, siya-siya,” Michael said.
They had a small gaffe when a concerned witness had mistaken the Land Cruiser’s plate number for AHA-3454, which, they later found, was registered to a Toyota Avanza.
Police cleared the owner of the Avanza after he surfaced Monday and said his car was in Bicol during the incident last Saturday.
Eleazar, in a press briefing in Camp Karingal Tuesday, said they were able to find Atienza after reviewing further the CCTV cameras near the crime scene within the period.
They had a clear image of the suspect’s car plate when it was seen in two footages traversing E. Rodriguez Avenue minutes before he shot dead Mendoza at the intersection of D. Tuazon and Quezon Avenues.
The Land Cruiser’s plate number, they found out, was AHA-3458.
Eleazar said they learned from the Land Transportation Office that the car was registered to a 26-year-old woman who pointed her father Atienza.
They went to her address in Quezon City where she confirmed that it was Atienza who drove the car. Police said Atienza has long been using the car despite its registration under her name.
BIG-TIME PLAYER
Based on what he learned in the internet, Eleazar said Atienza was a “high roller poker player.”
His alias Son Son appears in articles from a poker news website which tells that he had participated in major poker tournaments.
Eleazar said he also found in Facebook several photos of Atienza in a casino. The suspect’s social media account was later deactivated before his name was made public.
Eleazar, however, said they are still probing Atienza’s background as of press time.
Atienza owns two guns but their licenses have already expired, said Eleazar as they checked his records from the PNP Firearms and Explosive Office.
He had a .45-caliber STI pistol with license that expired last May 2013. A police official said such gun has a quality that is usually being preferred by shooting enthusiasts. The official added it is more durable and expensive.
Atienza also has a Glock 9mm pistol with a license that expired May 2010.
While they have yet to conduct examination in the crime lab, Eleazar believed that it was the gun he had used to kill Mendoza. An spent shell from such gun was recovered in the crime scene, he added.
Michael reiterated that he was sure that he recognized Atienza’s face, which made him recall the incident.
Atienza, he said, provoked his brother when they met at the stop light on D. Tuazon Avenue around 3:15 p.m.
“Ang unang approach niya talaga, malakas ‘yung boses niya. Talagang sinisigawan ako, pasigaw kada nagsasalita siya,” he said.
Michael remembered Atienza almost hitting their motorcycle as the lights turned red. The suspect was also the first to confront them
“Sabi niya, bakit may problema ba? Syempre bilang tao pagtaasan ka ng boses medyo ano ka rin. Kaya ‘yung kapatid ko, lumingon siya…and sabi nung kapatid ko, ‘Wala naman po, mahahagip mo na kasi kami.’ May paggalang, hindi ko makakalimutan yun,” he said.
He said Anthony did not react to Atienza when he pacified him, but the suspect kept on talking.
“Siguro ‘yung kapatid ko, lagi siyang sinisigawan, hindi na napigilan ’yung sarili, napamura na siya pero hindi nakaharap,” he said.
The suspect cursed back and in just a tick of a clock, replied with a gunshot that hit through Anthony’s head.
“Siguro po kung ako sumawsaw ako sa pagtatalo nila, baka pati ako rin. Posibleng patay na din ako ngayon,” said a teary-eyed Michael.
SURRENDER FEELERS
Eleazar said Atienza’s camp had expressed willingness to cooperate with the case.
“They wanted to talk about Atienza’s possible surrender. I was (also) informed that there is a commitment from his daughter na within today it (land cruiser) will be turned over to us,” he said.
Eleazar has yet to confirm when Atienza and the Land Cruiser would appear at the QCPD headquarters.
For the meantime, he appealed to the suspect to surface as soon as possible “before they arrest him.”
Eleazar said they are still hunting down Atienza who he said “is still in the country.”
The QCPD chief said he hopes that Atienza, whom he earlier described as “dangerous,” would not resist arrest.
(VANNE ELAINE P. TERRAZOLA)
