Cops nab phone snatchers

Three Caloocan City policemen on foot patrol captured two cellphone snatchers after a kilometer-long chase last Friday along EDSA near the Caloocan-Quezon City boundary.

Superintendent William Macavinta commended Senior Police Officer 1 Rodrigo Antonio and Police Officers 3 Melito Pabon and Julio Lobrin, all of Substation 1 in Bagong Barrio, for not giving up on the chase and arresting the suspects.

Chief Inspector Rio Gatacilo, Substation 1 commander, identified the suspects as Nelson Osorio and Ramonito Gundran.

The victim Lenie Valdez, 30, of Bagong Barrio, expressed gratitude to the three policemen who recrovered from the suspects her Nokia N70 cellular telephone worth P16,000.

Records showed the incident happened at around 6:40 p.m. after Valdez alighted from a commuter bus and Osorio grabbed the phone from her hands, and ran away.

Osorio later passed the cellphone to Gundran who ran with the loot as fast as he could as Valdez screamed for help.

The three policemen who were then on patrol, heard Valdez and they chased the suspects. Near the Bagong Barrio skywalk, the suspects lost steam and gave up as the policemen caught up with them.

Gatacilo said the two are on the police "hit" list but could not get their hands on the slippery duo because they usually cross over the nearby Quezon City boundary and mix with the crowd in the congested area, after their snatching operations. — Jerry Botial