Teen goes after cell phone snatcher, gets stabbed

MANILA, Philippines - A teenager was stabbed after he chased a snatcher who stole his friend’s cell phone in Caloocan Thursday night.

John Paul dela Cruz, 16, remains confined at the MCU Hospital after he was stabbed twice in the abdomen, according to investigator Police Officer 1 Richard Jumalon.

Dela Cruz and a female friend, Daniel Louis Tulusan, 15, were walking near the latter’s house on Macabagdal street in Bagong Barrio when a snatcher “appeared out of nowhere,” Jumalon said.

The man, whom the victims described as “young and thin,” pulled the P9,000 cell phone, which hung from a lanyard on Tulusan’s neck.

Dela Cruz resisted but the snatcher warned him that he would be stabbed if he continued to fight back.

Dela Cruz “did not listen,” and left Tulusan – who was suffering from an asthma attack – to chase after the fleeing snatcher, Jumalon told The STAR.

The teenager’s move apparently angered the snatcher, who doubled back and stabbed Dela Cruz. When the boy fell, the snatcher ran away with his loot.

The victims were rushed to the MCU Hospital, where Dela Cruz was treated for two stab wounds and Tulusan for her asthma attack.

Jumalon said minutes before her cell phone was taken, Tulusan was cautioned not to display her phone but did not heed the warning.

Police officers have yet to identify the snatcher. Tulusan told police the man frequented Macabagdal street, but when the police searched for him, he had disappeared, Jumalon said.