‘Road rage’ Benz driver urged to surface by police

The driver of a Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV caught on camera in a “road rage” incident versus a taxi cab driver on EDSA has been urged to come forward by a police official. The man, caught on video pointing a gun at a taxi driver on Edsa-Santolan last Friday, was invited to come forward to air his side.

This transpired as taxi driver Glen Remetio, 43, a resident of Barangay (village) Manggahan, Pasig city, filed complaints of grave threats, physical injuries, and malicious mischief against the yet unidentified Mercedes Benz driver.

The incident, a harrowing video of which has been spreading online, happened July 25 around 3:30 p.m. at the Edsa-Santolan flyover in Barangay Bagong Lipunan ng Crame in Quezon City, a police report reaching the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters in Camp Karingal showed.

The video, apparently taken by a passenger on a bus, starts with the SUV already parked in front of Remetio’s cab (UVN 607), and the SUV driver, in a blue shirt and denim pants, accompanied by an elderly man in white, standing outside Remetio’s shattered driver’s window and arguing with the cabbie inside.

The two-minute-and-35-second video has been circulating on social networking site Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4235466060805) and video-sharing site YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex1k8gOYlvk) over the weekend.

Remetio could be seen swiping a screwdriver at the SUV driver from inside the cab. As Remetio tried to step out, the SUV driver violently kicked at the car door to keep it closed.

When Remetio, still armed with the screwdriver, got out to face the other man, the SUV driver pulled out a handgun from a bag and pointed it at the taxi driver. The shrieks of the video-taker’s co-passengers could be heard in the background.

The argument continued with the SUV driver pushing at Remetio, and Remetio occasionally stepping forward, deflecting the other man’s hands and pointing angrily. At one point, the SUV driver put his gun back in his car, but went on to grab what looked like a glass shard from inside Remetio’s car.

The argument seemed to end with Remetio stepping away, and the SUV driver and his passenger getting back into the Mercedes Benz. The video-taker could be heard reciting the plate numbers of the involved vehicles.

When the SUV drove off, Remetio could be seen chasing after it. In the video, the cars and drivers were later on spotted parked on the inner lane further along Edsa, this time with the taxi in front of the Mercedes Benz.

According to the Cubao-based Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 7, which has jurisdiction over the area, the SUV and the taxi had been going the same way on the southbound lane starting in Cubao. But Remetio had “unintentionally” been driving too close to the other car, leading to the impression that he was “elbowing” the SUV.

“Nagsimula sa Cubao-Ilalim. Pag-ahon, nagkagitgitan. Sa [Edsa-Santolan] flyover, nagitgit niya uli. Kaya akala siguro ng SUV, sinasadya na, (It started at the Cubao underpass. The cars grazed each other coming out. At the flyover, Remetio unintentionally grazed the SUV again. So the SUV driver probably thought it was intentional),” the QCPD Station 7 commander, Supt. Ramon Pranada said, quoting Remetio.

According to the police report, Remetio was driving a passenger to Ortigas, when the SUV driver suddenly cut in front of his cab at the flyover.

Aside from pointing a gun at Remetio, the SUV driver had punched and injured the cabbie, punched through Remetio’s glass window, and caused a dent on the driver’s car door when he kicked it, leading to the multiple complaints filed by Remetio, Pranada said.

Remetio has only held the SUV driver, not his elderly companion, liable in the incident, Pranada said.

The Cubao police have already filed a memo for verification of the SUV’s plate number, as read out in the video, with the Land Transportation Office, but would receive the results by Monday, Pranada said.

The police commander declined to state the SUV’s plate number on record pending the verification.

So far, Remetio will not be held liable for arming himself with the screwdriver, unless the other party also files a complaint, according to Pranada.

“That’s why we are also urging the other party to surface, to clarify this incident and to give their side,” Pranada said, in Filipino.

With report by Jaymee T. Gamil