Two men allegedly beat up, rob taxi driver

Two men allegedly beat up a taxi driver and robbed him, causing him to crash his car in a jungle near the intersection of Katbon Road in San Vicente on Sunday night.

One suspect, identified as Kid Kyle Osiik Omengkar, was arrested at the scene, while his companion, a certain Damian, ran away.

Omengkar, 22, was arrested for robbery, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace.

The victim, Chengzhe Piao, suffered a laceration on the right side of his face. He was robbed of $80 to $100 cash, police said.

At yesterday’s hearing, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio kept the $15,000 cash bail for Omengkar and imposed some conditions, including a third-party custodian and a daily 7pm to 7am curfew.

Preliminary hearing will be on Dec. 10 at 9am.

Omengkar was also ordered to appear in court on Jan. 8, 2015, for a pending traffic case.

Police detective Andrew S. Taimanao stated in his report that police officer Travis Hurst responded to an auto crash along Isa Drive in San Vicente on Sunday at 10:21pm.

Piao, who met with Hurst on the side of the road, told Hurst that he had picked up two customers at Nang Ocha Store in San Vicente at 10pm and they told him to drop them off at Fiesta Resort in Garapan.

As Piao was driving down from Nang Ocha Store toward the intersection of Katbon Road and Isa Drive, the two men started punching him, causing the car to crash on the other side of the roadway.

After the crash, the two men took about $80 to $100 from the car’s sun visor and fled on foot. He then called the police.

While Hurst was waiting for a tow truck to pull Piao’s car from the jungle, he saw two men walking north along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. He asked the two what they were doing and where they were coming from.

One, who was later identified as Omengkar, said they were walking to a friend’s house. Hurst advised the two to sit on the curb so he could get more information.

Piao then identified Omengkar and his companion as the persons who beat him up and robbed him.

Hurst secured Omengkar in handcuffs, but the other male ran into the jungle. Hurst tried to give chase but slipped on the ground. Omengkar identified his companion as a certain Damian.

Omengkar denied the allegations and stated it was probably Damian who did it because he ran off.