Guard, robber slain in Marikina shootout

MANILA, Philippines - A security guard of a fastfood restaurant in Marikina City, despite being disarmed by four armed robbers, borrowed the service firearm of another guard at a nearby store and engaged the robbers in a shootout as they fled.

Jerico Belarmino, 27, was killed when his borrowed .38 caliber revolver misfired. One of the robbers had gone back and shot him in the head, according to a report by Marikina police chief Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Jagmis.

Members of the police Special Weapons and Tactics unit, who rushed to the scene, killed one of the robbers during a gunfight. The slain robber did not carry any identification papers, Jagmis said. 

Restaurant heists

Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel said they are checking whether the slain robber and his group are behind the rash of fastfood restaurant robberies in Marikina and Pasig.

Two restaurants in Marikina and three in Pasig were robbed only days apart since last month, Laurel said.

Jagmis said the four suspects entered the restaurant in Barangay Concepcion Uno at about 8 p.m. Wednesday by pretending to be customers.

Once inside, the robbers disarmed Belarmino at gunpoint and robbed the restaurant’s cashier and customers of money and valuables.

According to Jagmis, Belarmino slipped out of the restaurant and borrowed the revolver of a fellow guard at a nearby convenience store.

When the robbers ran out of the restaurant, Belarmino gave chase and traded shots with them near a gasoline station. When Belarmino’s borrowed gun jammed, one of the robbers approached him and shot him in the head.

Evidence

The three other robbers commandeered a taxi (UJO-644), which they abandoned on East Drive, also in Marikina City. Investigators found a kitchen knife, a magazine for a .45 caliber pistol and Belarmino’s borrowed revolver in the vehicle.

Superintendent Remus Medina, EPD intelligence chief, said the robbers are not from Marikina City because they escaped in a group. He said a cell phone found on the person of the slain robber had text messages indicating they were “also planning to rob another convenience store in Makati City.”

According to Medina, they are coordinating with other police units in Metro Manila to identify the slain robber and his companions.