Pinoy charged in ‘Ramada rumble’

A Filipino was charged in court after he was allegedly involved in a ruckus outside the Ramada hotel in Sai Ying Pun that left two Chinese taxi drivers severely injured.

Francis M. was charged with two counts of wounding at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts after he allegedly participated in beating up the two drivers outside the hotel on July 17, 2014. The defendant pleaded not guilty.

Francis and three female friends had just gone out of a videoke bar near the hotel when the incident happened.

While they were walking down Water Street, looking for a taxi, Francis saw a parked cab on the other side of the street and approached it to check.

But when he saw that it had no driver, the Filipino slammed it with his bag before walking back to his friends.

Unknown to him, the taxi driver was eating in an eatery along the street, and he ran after the Filipino.

“We told him to just say sorry and apologize but the driver collared him,” one of Francis’ female friends told the court on September 18.

At that point, a group of around six other Filipinos who had just left the videoke bar, saw what happened and came to Francis’ rescue, she added.

They ganged up on the driver and another Chinese driver who also joined the fray.