4 robbers caught red-handed

Four members of a robbery gang were arrested yesterday while in the act of robbing passengers in a bus along East Avenue in Quezon City.

Metro police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Varilla said lawmen confiscated a .45 caliber pistol and a .38 caliber revolver from suspects Ronald Reyes, 31; Cesar Gesando, 31; Alvin Mendoza alias John, 28; and John Rod Loveras, 35, all of Batasan Hills, Quezon City.

Varilla said his men also confiscated stolen items such as cellular phones, wallets, ATM cards and 29 SIM cards from the suspects.

During follow-up operations, the Regional Police Intelligence and Operations Unit (RPIOU) arrested Omar Bocua, who allegedly buys cell phones stolen by the gang, and suspected ringleader Dominador Cruz, alias Dodong.

Superintendent Rhodel Sermonia, spokesman of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO), said the modus operandi of the robbery gang is to board passenger buses bound for any destination in Metro Manila and commit the heists. Varilla directed the RPIOU to neutralize the gang.

Sermonia said RPIOU agents were on board a Mafel Transit bus traversing East Avenue when the four suspects pulled out their handguns and announced the heists at about 10:20 a.m. yesterday.

Before the suspects could divest passengers of their personal belongings, the RPIOU agents, with drawn guns, identified themselves and announced their arrest. The four suspects surrendered peacefully.

They admitted their crime and led RPIOU agents to Bocua, who was waiting for their loot at the Ever Gotesco shopping mall in Quezon City. The RPIOU agents also arrested Cruz, who was also in the area.

Sermonia appealed to other victims of the robbery gang to file complaints against the suspects so “they would stay longer in jail.”         – Non Alquitran