A police sergeant was arrested and ordered relieved from his post after he was accused of beating up an eight-year old boy in Pasig City on Sunday night.
Sacked was Police Staff Sergeant Nicolas Lapie, Jr., 33, assigned to the Marikina Police, according to Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
Lapie was the second policeman sacked in a span of two days. On Sunday, Eleazar also relieved Police Master Sergeant Arnulfo Ardales for verbally abusing a call center agent in San Juan.
Based on the report, Lapie was seen approaching the eight-year old boy in a basketball court in Barangay Bambang in Pasig City at around 8 p.m. before he started punching him.
“The victim tried to get away but the policeman held his arm and continue beating him,” said Eleazar, quoting a report sent to him.
The beating was only stopped when the bystanders approached the two and asked the policeman to let go of the boy.
“This is something that should not be tolerated. The victim is a boy, anong laban nung bata,” said Eleazar.
The official said he had already ordered investigation of the incident including the determination of charges that would be filed against the
policeman.
Lieutenant Jose Drexel Molina, Pasig City Police Community Precinct-3 (PCP-3) commander, said Lapie tried to evade arrest when his men went to his house to arrest him in Barangay Bambang on Monday.
“He said that he was just going to change his shirt, but he went behind their house to escape. We managed to apprehend him though,” he said.
The suspect was reportedly intoxicated when he mauled the boy, Molina said.
The policeman denied the claims of the boy, but investigators obtained a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showing Lapie physically abusing the minor.
Lapie is now held at the Pasig police headquarters’ detention cell. (Aaron Recuenco, Jel Santos)
