Scream for help foils robbery

A good, old scream for help worked wonders for a robbery victim resulting in the suspect’s arrest but not before he was beat up by local residents late Thursday in Malabon City.

At around 10 p.m., Joanna Naval, 23, an employee of the Malabon city hall cooperative, was on a jeepney ride home and was speaking to her mother on the phone when Esteban Guma, 26, pulled out a gun and announced a holdup, according to police investigator PO2 Ananias Birad.

Guma, who was beside Naval, grabbed her phone and jumped off the jeepney. Naval screamed for help and attracted the attention of local residents and passersby.

Guma ran and was cornered him by an angry mob. He was beat up before police officers Roan Geneta and Rolando Hernando arrived at the scene and stopped.

Aside from Naval’s Nokia 7610 mobile phone, a police search yielded P14,000 in cash and an unlicensed .38-caliber paltik revolver.