Isuzu Crosswind in ‘wrong lane’ runs over MMDA man

MANILA, Philippines—A traffic constable of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was in critical condition after being run over by a private vehicle he had flagged down for a road violation on Edsa in Quezon City on Friday morning.

Police said Sonny Acosta, an MMDA enforcer assigned in the Cubao area, spotted a red Isuzu Crosswind Sportivo [earlier wrongly identified as a Mitsubishi Adventure (AAB-4197)] moving on a lane designated for provincial buses and motioned the driver to stop around 9:45 a.m.

But as Acosta was about to confiscate the license of the still unidentified driver, the motorist allegedly rolled up his window and suddenly drove off, according to Supt. Ely Pintang, chief of the Traffic Enforcement Unit of the Quezon City Police District.

Acosta got his hand stuck in the window and dragged by the Adventure for several meters until his body went under the moving vehicle, Pintang said. The incident happened on a section of Edsa in front of Farmers Market.

Acosta sustained serious injuries in the head and body and at press time had a “50-50” chance of survival at the St. Lukes Medical Center in Quezon City, Pintang said.

The QCPD-TEU was still validating records of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) showing that the Adventure is owned by a resident of San Miguel, Bulacan province.

Last month, another MMDA traffic enforcer, Jorbe Adriatico, emerged bloodied from an encounter with a Maserati-driving motorist in Quezon City.

Joseph Russel Ingco, a businessman driving the Italian luxury car, punched Adriatico in the face in an altercation that started when the enforcer kept taking a cell phone video of him after he nearly got caught taking an illegal left turn and flashed the dirty finger. Rima Granali