Robber shot dead by cops

A jeepney robber was shot dead before dawn yesterday after he allegedly tried to grab the pistol of one of the arresting policemen in Ermita, Manila, some two hours after his latest heist.

Maximo Condiman, 36, of Pasay City, was shot in the head and chest by Police Officers Ruben Canares and Ernesto Hetigan when he tried grab the service firearm of PO1 Pedro Olanda, who were all escorting him to the Ermita Police Station. It could not be immediately determined if Condiman was properly handcuffed after the arrest.

Condiman, with three unidentified cohorts, earlier robbed a passenger jeep bound for Monumento in Caloocan City, at 12:05 a.m.

However, some passengers of the jeepney they held up jumped out of the moving vehicle and attracted the attention of patrolling policemen who chased the fleeing robbers. Condiman was, however, the only one cornered by police.

Condiman was then first brought to the hospital for routine check-up but on their way to the Ermita police station along Taft Avenue, he reportedly grabbed Olanda’s gun prompting the other cops to shoot him. — Jose Aravilla