Police crack jewelry heist case in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - In less than 24 hours, the Talisay City Police solved the robbery case where Provincial Board Member Julian ‘Teban’ Daan lost jewelry worth about P1.2 million.

The police arrested two suspects in two different locations and got back all, but two pieces of jewelry that were taken in the Monday morning heist.

Arrested were Julius Racaza, 34, and Ramses Abatayo, 29.

Racaza was arrested at 6:30 a.m. in sitio Iba, barangay Lagtang, Talisay City.

Abatayo was arrested inside his residence along Cabreros St., Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City at around 11 a.m.

Racaza was tagged as the lookout while Abatayo allegedly went into the residence of the PB Member and pointed a knife at him.

Yolly, wife of Daan, had mixed emotions when she went to the police station to confront the suspects at the Talisay City Police headquarters.

She was angry and at the same time thankful that most of the jewelry that were taken have been recovered.

She said that her husband could have died in that robbery as the PB Member, who is also a popular radio and television personality, has hypertension.

Daan was forced at knifepoint to take the alleged robber to the cabinet where his wife kept their jewelry.

The Daan couple lives in Palmview Village, barangay Tabunok, Talisay City.

The pieces of jewelry were also recovered at the residence of Abatayo.

Only a choker necklace made of white gold worth P25,000 and a Rado watch of the board member were not recovered by the police.

Abatayo admitted to having pawned the necklace for P9,600 and showed a receipt.

He denied having kept the missing pieces as Racaza allegedly also took some stuff from the bag where they placed the stolen items.

Racaza vehemently denied his participation in the crime.

He said that when the incident happened, he was in barangay Lagtang gathering wood that he would make into charcoal.

He alleged that Abatayo has an axe to grind against him, which is probably why he was implicated in the crime.

He added that if indeed he participated in the crime, he would have been in possession of some jewelry as he would definitely get his fair share of the loot.

Meanwhile, Insp. Hugo Rio Ipong, one of the investigators of the case, said there are witnesses who positively identified Racaza as the one who was standing near an electrical post close to Daan’s house while Abatayo was inside.

The suspects allegedly covered their faces during the commission of the crime.

For his part, Chief Insp. Eddie Recamara, acting chief of the Talisay Police, said they have to do a “thorough investigation” to see if Racaza is part of the crime or not.

By today, however, police will file charges of robbery with forced intimidation against Abatayo.

Meanwhile, Abatayo admitted he did the crime and apologized to Daan couple.

“Gibuhat to nako kay nagipit ko. Pasayloa na lang ko, board,” said Abatayo referring to PB member Daan.

He said he had no idea Daan was still inside the house as he thought he left together with Yolly when the latter went to the Capitol to work.

On the other hand, the Talisay City Council is set to give recognition to the city police for the fast resolution of this case.

COMMENDATION

The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) will give commendation to the Talisay police, who quickly cracked the robbery case.

The Police Regional Office 7 is also set to give commendation and award.

Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, CPPO chief, also plans to discuss with Recamara the security arrangement for the board member.

The provincial director said that one of the reasons why they quickly solved the case was that the househelp, who was in Daan’s house at the time of the robbery, knew the suspect.

He also defended the police on the allegations of Daan’s wife that it took a long time for them to respond to the robbery alarm.

Comendador said that the distance from the police station to the scene of the crime could be the reason.

He also said that they have personnel that they can assign to Daan as his security detail if this will be finalized. – with Ria Mae Y. Booc/NLQ (FREEMAN)