A Chinese national led traffic police on a chase through the city today, hitting several cars, ultimately getting arrested on drug possession charges, and capping the whole thing off by spitting on a police officer and having his face smacked into the roof of his own vehicle — all because he was about to get a ticket for using his car on the wrong day.
The Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) told ABS-CBN News that officers on motorbikes in Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown, asked suspect Zhou Zhiyi to stop after they noticed he was in violation of the city’s number coding scheme, under which a vehicle cannot be used on certain days based on the last number of its license plate.
Instead of stopping, however, Zhou, who was driving a white Toyota Fortuner, allegedly drove faster towards Tayuman Street. In his haste to evade the authorities, Zhou also reportedly hit multiple other cars, as well as an MPTB motorbike, which ended up going under his vehicle.
The chase ended at the corner of Abad Santos and Tayuman Streets, where the authorities discovered that Zhou had a female companion he said he had picked up from Quiapo, GMA News reports. Aside from driving without a license, Zhou also allegedly had several sachets of meth (shabu) in his possession.
Several members of the MPTB arrested Chu, but one became visibly agitated when the driver, who couldn’t speak English, spat on him. The officer then proceeded to press Zhou’s head into the hood of his Fortuner.
Watch the confrontation here.
The MTPB is now looking for a translator so they can speak with Zhou. They are also trying to determine Zhou’s residency status in the Philippines.
The spitting incident comes amid heightened fears in the Philippines over the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, which can be transmitted in the saliva, and which has infected three Chinese tourists in the country.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the suspect’s name as Chu Zi Yi. This version has been updated to reflect the correct spelling.
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