CEBU CITY, Philippines — A man from Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu will be spending some time in jail after he was arrested for carrying a rifle grenade and posing a threat to others on Monday evening, October 28.
A day after his arrest, cops filed charges of unlawful possession of an explosive against the suspect identified as an alias “Joel.”
Joel was apprehended in Purok Ube, Brgy. Gun-ob on Monday after his neighbors reported to authorities that he was seen carrying a grenade.
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In response to the report of residents who were alarmed by Joel’s actions, police officers immediately went to the area.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Christian Torres, spokesperson of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said that responding officers caught the suspect holding a rifle grenade and promptly arrested him.
During his arrest, Joel also surrendered the grenade in his possession.
In an interview with local radio station dyHP, Torres said that the suspect pulled out the grenade and began making threats to his neighbors after he had a fight with his girlfriend.
The argument was reportedly caused by Joel’s refusal to stop his involvement with illegal drugs.
Police found that the suspect’s explosive was a “rifle grenade,” which typically explodes when handled with extreme force.
This type of grenade, however, will only go off if attached to a rifle gun.
Police are verifying Joel’s claims that he found the rifle grenade at a garbage dump.
According to Torres, they will be looking into the origins of the explosive through its serial number. He added that only members of law enforcement units were allowed to carry this kind of explosive.
As of this writing, Joel has been charged with unlawful possession of explosives and is still detained at the Gun-ob Police Station’s custodial facility.