Saipan Tribune

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

$10,000 cash bail set for ex-Power 99 disc jockey

* Two witnesses allegedly identify suspect
* Another witness leads cop to ex-DJ's hiding place

Bail was set yesterday at $10,000 cash for a former disc jockey of Power 99 Studio who is accused of setting fire to the company's vehicle at Paseo de Marianas in western Garapan.

The 27-year-old Aziz Peter Mettao was arrested and taken to the Superior Court on charges of arson and other related offenses.

As part of the bail conditions, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho ordered Mettao to stay away from the Power 99 radio station.

Preliminary hearing will be on Sept. 19 at 9am.

Arson investigator Norman Skilling stated in his report that police received a report on Monday at 3:51am that a vehicle was on fire west of the Power 99 building.

Police officer Daniel Smith, who responded to the scene, came upon a silver Hyundai Tucson with license plate ADY-761 with its interior engulfed in flames. A firefighter then arrived and extinguished the flames.

The vehicle sustained extensive damage inside. Its window glasses were shattered and the upper portion of the front windshield had cracks.

Skilling said a witness told Smith that he was playing chess with another man just south of the Power 99 building when he heard a loud boom. He checked where the noise was coming from and saw a man throwing something inside the left rear window of the Power 99 vehicle.

The witness described the suspect as having long hair, slim build, wearing a pair of black pants, and using a long black shirt as a mask.

The witness saw the suspect throw a bottle inside the car, triggering a fire inside the vehicle. He saw the suspect again throw another bottle at the car, but this time the bottle bounced off.

The witness said a fire caught the suspect in the back. The witness and his companion chased the suspect who ran toward a house.

The witness described the suspect as the same one who used to work as a disc jockey at Power 99.

The second witness provided Smith the same information but added that he saw the suspect taking off the black shirt that he was using as a mask.

The second witness said the suspect looked at him and that he recognized him as former DJ Mettao.

While Smith was still at the scene, a person approached and disclosed that Mettao was hiding behind a house near the area.

Smith spotted Mettao and escorted him to the main road where he then called the two witnesses. The witnesses positively identified Mettao as the person they saw burning the vehicle.

Smith placed Mettao under arrest at 5:14am. Smith later searched around the house where the suspect was hiding and recovered a gasoline container and a box that contained beer bottles.

Power 99 general manager Tina Palacios told Saipan Tribune that Mettao used Molotov cocktails to burn the company's vehicle.

At yesterday's hearing, assistant public defender Daniel Guidotti served as counsel for the suspect. Assistant attorney general Chemere K. McField appeared for the government.