2 students nabbed for taxi heist try

MANILA, Philippines - Manila police arrested two college students who allegedly stabbed a taxi driver in an attempted robbery in Ermita at past midnight yesterday.

Suspects John Warren Lumahan, 20, and Ernesto Gotido, 22, both students of Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) Colleges, were nabbed by operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) Ermita Station 5 after a brief chase.

Initial investigation by Senior Police Officer 1 Glenzor Vallejo showed that the two men flagged down a taxi driven by Benjamin Pelonio at the Plaza Sta. Cruz and asked to be brought to Malate.

Police said when the taxi reached the Liwasang Bonifacio, the suspects drew out knives and declared the robbery at around 12:20 a.m. Pelonio resisted, prompting Lumahan to stab him in the belly.

Though wounded, Pelonio managed to step on the brakes and seek help from bystanders at the park. The two students then jumped off the cab and fled.

PO3 Melchor Cariño of the Plaza Lawton police outpost and concerned citizens chased the suspects, who jumped into the Pasig River.

The suspects were fished out of the water and turned over to the Ermita Police station 5 while Pelonio was brought to the Philippine General Hospital for treatment.

Lumahan and Gotido remain detained at the police station pending the filing of an attempted robbery with frustrated homicide charge against them before the Manila prosecutor’s office, Vallejo said.