P6M heist fails; 4 ‘robbers’ held
FOUR men, three of them armed with short firearms, robbed a woman of about P6 million worth of diamond jewelry yesterday afternoon, but were captured within minutes.
They drove past a police station during their escape.
Jennifer de la Cerna, 38, of Bulacao, Cebu City had just left a fast food chain at the corner of F. Llamas St. and Natalio Bacalso Ave. when two men poked guns against her neck.
Without saying a word, one of the robbery suspects snatched her yellow sling bag.
That bag contained seven pieces of assorted diamond jewelry estimated by de la Cerna to be worth about P6 million, plus more than P30,000 cash and her cellular phone.
The robbers left the terror-stricken de la Cerna with a scratch mark on her neck, but without firing a single shot.
She said her husband, who was with her, had run out of phone credits and could not phone for help, so he tried to chase the fleeing robbers on board their motorcycle.
De la Cerna, on the other hand, shouted for help.
The robbers, who boarded a black Mitsubishi Adventure Wagon (ZBW 867), then made their fatal mistake. They drove right in front of the Punta Princesa Police Station, and got stuck in traffic.
Asset
Punta Princesa Police Station Chief Gilberto Abellar Sr. said that a man, who claimed to be an asset of a police unit, arrived on a motorcycle at the police station and pointed to the getaway vehicle.
Abellar immediately led a seven-man team and chased the fleeing robbers.
SP04 Gualberto Oroc, one of the team members, said that about 30 meters away from the police station, four men hurriedly got off after their vehicle got stuck in traffic on Tres de Abril St.
The four men headed toward Victor Village I, abandoning the vehicle and inside it, the loot and the guns they used in staging the robbery.
The police cornered the robbery suspects at a dead end inside the village, within minutes.
Police identified the arrested robbery suspects as Noel Salig Davis, alias Jack-Jack, 44, of Panabo, Davao City; Kirby Baguio Abanilla, 27, of Barangay Pasil, Cebu City; Frederick Mancao Ybańez, 35, of Catadman, Ozamiz City; and Jeromy Sande Polistico, 44, of Clarin, Misamis Occidental.
From Ozamiz
Police believed that Abanilla served as the local contact of the robbers. He kept mum when asked to comment about the allegation.
Recovered inside the vehicle were the yellow sling bag of de la Cerna, two .45 pistols, one .38 revolver, three loaded magazines for .45 pistols, 12 bullets, and backpacks and bags filled with clothes.
Polistico, in a brief interview with
Sun.Star Cebu before he and his companions were brought in for tactical interrogation, said he merely served as the driver of the Mitsubishi wagon.
He said the group brought the vehicle all the way from Mindanao. They arrived yesterday morning, he said, from Ozamiz City.
He, however, claimed he was just told that they would be picking up something in Cebu. He refused to say who the leader of the group was.
In an interview with reporters at the Cebu City police force’s headquarters, de la Cerna said that before the robbery, a female friend called her up at noon and said she wanted to show the jewelry to potential buyers from Talisay City.
Returned
De la Cerna said she met her friend and gave the jewelry.
At 2 p.m., de la Cerna’s friend, whose name she gave the police for follow-up, called her back.
De la Cerna’s friend wanted to see her again to give back the jewelry because she and the potential buyers failed to meet.
The two agreed to meet in a food chain at the corner of F. Llamas St. and N. Bacalso Ave., where de la Cerna’s friend returned the jewelry.
Shortly after the woman left, de la Cerna said she also walked away.
Outside the food chain, she was robbed.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador said at least one or two of the arrested suspects was linked to the twin robberies of Oro Sugbo Pawnshop and Jewelry Store and its sister-firm, Agencia Anne Jewelry Shop, in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City in May 2008.
During that robbery, the suspects hauled at least P13 million worth of jewelry.
Warning
Comendador said the arrested robbery suspects are members of an organized robbery group, which has been coming in and out of Cebu. It is also not a remote possibility that the robbery group is connected to the Mindanao-based Kuratong Baleleng Gang, Comendador said.
One indication that the group is organized was its access to resources like a getaway vehicle and firearms.
Since last Sunday, Comendador said, the CCPO has been on alert after receiving “very reliable information” about the arrival of the group. The police expected them to strike within the week.
Comendador said he ordered Supt. Pablo Labra II to supervise the intelligence monitoring as well as warn the business community about the information.
All the arrested suspects are now detained at the CCPO stockade.
P6M heist fails; 4 ‘robbers’ held
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