NBI ‘snatches’ man in Manila

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Police District (MPD) yesterday scrambled to set up chokepoints in the city’s boundaries to locate a man who was snatched by the occupants of a sport utility vehicle along Taft Avenue.

According to initial reports, the man – described to be between 20 and 25 years old, was walking along Taft Avenue when the passenger of a Ford Ranger alighted near the avenue’s intersection with Padre Faura street and grabbed the man at around 9:30 a.m.

The man turned out to be robbery suspect John Paul Forbes, 24, who was caught by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents who were conducting a hot pursuit operation.

The Ranger was later spotted entering the NBI compound, according to MPD Station 5 commander Lt. Col. Igmedio Bernaldez.

Footage from a closed-circuit television camera in Barangay 676 showed Forbes struggling to escape, but the vehicle’s occupants managed to drag him inside. 

One of the passengers fired a shot in the air before the vehicle sped away. Bernaldez said the NBI agent fired the shot because the suspect tried to escape.