Robber picks wrong victim

An off-duty Quezon City policeman shot dead one of two men who tried to rob him on Mindanao Avenue in Novaliches Friday night, police said yesterday.

Police Officer 1 Chito Mendoza was waiting for a ride at about 10:30 p.m. when two men riding in tandem on a motorcycle accosted him and demanded that he give them his cell phone.

When Mendoza was about to give his cell phone, one of the suspects shot him in the thigh, prompting him to draw his service firearm and retaliate.

He shot suspect George Pingol in the chest while Pingol’s companion escaped.

Crime scene investigators recovered from Pingol’s body two nine-millimeter pistols, three cell phones, an Ipod, some jewelry and a sachet of what they suspect to be dried marijuana leaves. – Perseus Echeminada