Cabbie foils robbery try by 2 Filipino-Americans

The Parañaque police arrested two men who ran off after failing to rob a taxi driver along Dr. A. Santos Avenue (formerly known as Sucat Road) early yesterday.

Timothy Luzuriaga, 21, admitted trying to rob taxi driver Jeffrey Mercado, 30, but said he was doing this for the first time and only because his mother was sick.

Luzuriaga yielded a gym bag that contained a garrote fashioned from a jump rope, two fan knives, a roll of masking tape, and a piece of black cloth.

His companion, Pocholo Patawaran, 20, refused to issue any statement, except to repeatedly shout, “I have the right to remain silent!” from the time he was caught hiding in the garden of the Elorde Sports Complex until he was brought to the Parañaque police headquarters, according to the police.

Both Luzuriaga and Patawaran, reportedly Filipino-Americans, are residents of BF Homes International in Parañaque City.

Parañaque police chief Superintendent Alfredo Valdez said the suspects boarded Mercado’s cab along Sucat Road at around 2:30 a.m. and declared a heist as the vehicle neared the sports complex. Luzuriaga had his knife against Mercado’s neck.

Mercado then crashed his vehicle into a garbage truck parked in front of the sports complex, prompting Luzuriaga to slash his neck. The suspects then got out of the cab and ran towards the sports complex’s landscaped compound.

The commotion attracted the attention of SPO4 Wilfredo Aler and PO3 Gilbert Decena, who were patrolling the area, as well as barangay watchmen.

The suspects had hidden in the garden of the sports complex, and the lawmen and barangay watchmen scoured the area until they cornered the suspects.

The policemen brought the suspects to the emergency room of the Parañaque Medical Center, where Mercado was taken for treatment. He identified the two men as the ones who tried to rob him.

The suspects have been detained at the city police headquarters and are facing charges of frustrated homicide. Valdez said the suspects were not charged with robbery as the crime was not consummated.

Valdez said the suspects did not appear to be high on drugs or drunk when they were arrested. However, he said Luzuriaga appeared to be depressed.

“We later learned that his mother had just been released from a hospital and that his family was having some money problems,” Valdez said.

He said the area where the foiled robbery happened is not a likely area for heists because of the presence of police patrols.  – With Bernardo Batuigas