Players of Crispa and Toyota were
released after spending a night in detention, but Francis Arnaiz was
arrested after a separate incident involving him and Rudy Hines in a
Toyota-U-Tex game at the Araneta Coliseum.
Another PBA row: Toyota cager arrested
By Al Mendoza
Bulletin Today
Published Wednesday April 20, 1977
Toyota beat Universal Textiles,
121-115, in the PBA first conference at the Araneta Coliseum. But the
real story happened after the game.
Toyota's Francis Arnaiz, fresh from a
one-night stint as a detainee at the PC stockade in Fort Bonifacio,
was picked up after the game on orders of Brig. Gen. Prospero Olivas,
Metrocom commander, for figuring in a commotion with Wrangler Rudolf
Hines during the match.
Arnaiz, who keyed Toyota's first win in
two games by scoring four of the last eight points of Toyota,
including the go-ahead charities with a minute to go, was booked anew
for violating conditions for his temporary release.
Capt. Reynaldo Verroya of the MISG
(military intelligence service group) executed the subpoena for the
arrest of Arnaiz.
The subpeona read: “Violation of
conditions for temporary release.” It was signed by Gen. Olivas and
was addressed to Arnaiz.
Arnaiz was charged with kicking Hines
when both were down on their pants, following a scramble for
possession of the ball near the Toyota camp.
Hines was also invited for questioning
by the Metrocom and together with Arnaiz, were hauled off to Camp
Crame by Capt. Veroya after the game.
Arnaiz fell over Hines with 45 seconds
to go in the second quarter. The Toyota sentinel, in an apparent
burst of temper, kicked Hines, who, however, did not retaliate.
Hines lay for some minutes crumpled on
the floor. When he got up and headed for the U-Tex bench, Major
Leonardo San Diego of the Quezon City police tried to arrest Arnaiz,
who was then inside the court.
PBA officials immediately approached
Maj. San Diego and pleaded not to arrest Arnaiz. There was tension
from there and policemen ringed the hardcourt.
But Maj. San Diego was hell bent on
arresting Arnaiz on the spot. PBA Commissioner Leo Prieto and games
and amusements board Chairman Luis Tabuena then requested Gen. Olivas
over the phone to stop Maj. San Diego from arresting Arnaiz.
Gen. Olivas gave in to the request but
Maj. San Diego would not budge and immediately ordered all policemen;
some 32 of them, out of the coliseum.
“If that's the case, we're pulling
out!” Maj. San Diego was heard as saying. Then he shouted: “All
policemen out!”
The game was resumed but early in the
fourth quarter, Maj. San Diego was back, together with Capt. Verroya.
Maj. San Diego said later that he
ordered all policemen out “so that when a serious thing happened
anew, we will not be blamed.”
Hines later said that he was kicked by
Arnaiz in the midsection and that for a while “I could not
breathe.” He added that he refused requests from the Toyota camp to
say it was accidental.
U-Tex manager Tommy Manotoc, when
contacted, said Hines will not file a complaint against Arnaiz.
Arnaiz thus became the first of the 23
cagers ordered released yesterday by General Olivas to be
re-arrested. It was not known immediately how long Arnaiz will be
detained this time.
Arnaiz and 22 others, including all 13
Crispa players arrested and detained Monday night, were ordered
released temporarily yesterday by General Olivas.
All of them were to be picked up
anytime by the Metrocom troopers. One condition for their release is
that each one has to report to Col. Tomas B. Karingal, Northern
District Police superintendent, once a week.
The arrest and detention of the 23
Toyota and Crispa players were the offshoot of a post-game rumble
following Crispa's close 122-121 victory over Toyota in Sunday's
inaugural games of the PBA first conference.
In last night's first game, Mariwasa
defeated Tanduay, 115-105, behind the guns of former national players
Adriano Papa, Jr. and Jessie Sullano, who each fired 23 points.
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