QC rob gang strikes twice

Police are looking for 10 armed men who robbed two gasoline stations yesterday morning in Quezon City — all in a span of 25 minutes.

The suspects, reportedly armed with caliber .38, .45 and 9mm pistols and revolvers, carted away more than P100,000 in cash and groceries from two gas stations in Congressional Avenue and Libis, Quezon City.

Initial investigations showed that the men, on board a blue Toyota Revo with no license plates, robbed the Petron station at about 4:25 a.m. on April street in Barangay Bahay Toro, Congressional Avenue.

Several members of the group alighted from their vehicle and went straight to the cashier, Marivic Salo, and pointed their firearms at her. Salo immediately handed over P30,000 in cash.

The suspects fled the scene right after, as witnesses, including the station’s security guard, claimed that the actual robbery took only one minute.

After 25 minutes, the vehicle parked right in front of the Total gasoline station in Emluaria street in Barangay Bayan, Libis, and went straight to the cashier. The gas station, however, did not have any money in the cash register, so the suspects broke into the gas station’s mini-mart instead.

The armed men took bottles of liquor, wine and cash and immediately fled on board their vehicle.

Meanwhile in Manila, robbery charges were filed yesterday by Western Police District investigators against one of their colleagues who held up a messenger but was caught by another lawman who engaged him in a shootout, resulting in the rogue cop’s wounding and his arrest.

Police Officer 3 Louie Morales of the Western Police District-District Intelligence and Investigation Division (WPD-DIID) was charged in the Manila Prosecutor’s Office for robbing messenger Ariel Silverio, 33, of P126,000.

Morales sustained two gunshot wounds, one in his right arm and another in his groin. He is currently confined at the Ospital ng Maynila under tight guard.

Reports show that Morales poked a gun at Silverio while he was carrying cash he was about to deliver at about 10 a.m. along Singalong street in Malate, Manila.

Fortunately, an anti-littering squad of the Manila City Hall was passing by with Police Officer 3 Domingo Juliana who heard the commotion when Silverio tried to fight off the robber. Juliana fired a warning shot but the suspect reportedly opened fire at him. A shootout erupted resulting in the wounding of the holdup man who was later discovered to be an off-duty cop. – Jose Aravilla