MANILA - Vhon Tanto, the Army reservist who is the main suspect in the road rage killing of cyclist Mark Vincent Geralde, has abandoned his vehicle in Nueva Vizcaya and took a bus to Manila, a police report said Thursday.
Initial police reports said Tanto left the vehicle in the house of his brother-in-law, Jonathan Leano, in Purok 3, Kirang, Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya.
Leano, 39, told police his brother-in-law had wanted to go to Bataan Wednesday morning. The Army reservist then asked Leano to bring him to the Pink Country (Florida Bus) stop in Baranagay Banganan, Aritao in Nueva Vizcaya Wednesday.
Leano said Tanto boarded a Florida bus going to Sampaloc-Cubao via SCTEX.
Police have recovered Tanto's vehicle, a red Hyundai Eon without plate number bearing conduction sticker MO-3745. Authorities said Tanto acquired the vehicle through a memorandum of agreement last June 1, 2016.
The vehicle is set to be turned over to Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.
RESERVIST
Philippine Army (PA) chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año on Wednesday confirmed that the suspect in the killing of a cyclist in Quiapo, Manila last Monday is a member of the Army's reserve force.
According to Año, the suspect, Vhon Tanto, is a reservist with a rank of private. He is assigned at the 1301st Community Defense Center, National Capital Regional Community Defense Group of the Army Reserve Command in Caloocan City.
Año said he has already directed the Army Reserve Command to conduct an investigation into the involvement of Tanto in the killing.
CCTV footage earlier showed the driver of a Hyundai Eon shooting bicycle rider Mark Vincent Geralde after a fistfight along P. Casal Street.
Police recovered several bullet shells from a .45 pistol at the crime scene.
A civilian, 18-year-old Rosell Bondoc, was hit by a stray bullet during the shooting.