Motel attendant hurt as Fil-Am escapes without paying his bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Pasay City police are looking for a man believed to be a Filipino-American who zoomed his way out of a motel in a white Volvo car without settling a bill for more than P10,000 —  and stealing the 32-inch television set in his room to boot.

The police identified the man as Marco Gonzaga Saca who, according to his US driver’s license issued in California, is from Malibu Hills in California. The police were still uncertain on Wednesday about the man’s nationality.

Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca, the Pasay police chief, said he learned of the man’s racket on Tuesday afternoon after the management of a Victoria Court motel on Cuneta Avenue filed a complaint.

Saca allegedly refused to pay a P10,210 bill he had run up during a 36-hour stay in the motel and took his room’s 32-inch LED television set when he escaped around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, injuring an attendant identified as Jose Mari Rancapan in the process.

“When they sensed that the man was already leaving on board his Volvo around 2:30 p.m., the manager and the motel employees set up an improvised barrier to stop him from leaving,” Llorca said.

But Saca drove so fast, the barrier was flung aside, pinning Rancapan against a wall, llorca said. Fellow employees took Rancapan to the San Juan de Dios Hospital nearby for treatment.

Meanwhile, other motel employees checked out Saca’s room and found the TV set missing, Llorca, adding initial  investigation showed Saca had pulled off this kind of caper at least once before.

The previous incident happened at a Victoria Court motel on Gil Puyat Avenue where he promised  two female companions that he would return to pay the bills but did not. Llorca said the two women had no choice but to give up their mobile phones to pay for the bill.

The police have filed complaints of estafa, theft, and frustrated homicide against Saca at the city prosecutor’s office while the search for him is on.

Police said Saca’s Volvo bore plates marked UPZ-452.