Suspected robbers, masterminds fall: Cops nab 6 in pawnshop rob

The attempt to rob a branch of Exquisite Pawnshop and Jewelry in barangay Pardo, Cebu City resulted to what could be one of the more sensational hot pursuit operations of the police and one of the quickest to be solved in recent years.

The three robbery suspects and three alleged masterminds were all arrested hours after the failed heist.

The pawnshop, which is located just over a hundred meters from the Pardo Police Station, was about to open for the day when two robbers struck.

Appraiser Chuvelyn Jumao-as along with security guard Dioscoro Madraga were working the roll-up door of the pawnshop when two men came from behind and pointed a gun at the guard.

Once in, the two men instructed Jumao-as and Madraga to shut the roll-up door.

The guard was then to lie prone on the floor and then one of the men hogtied him using a shoelace while the companion poked a gun a Jumao-as and asked her to open the vault.

One of the alleged robbers, who was later identified as Rolex Jaboc, took Madraga''s gun, a .38 caliber revolver, from his drawer and then asked the guard for his cellular phone. Madraga told Jaboc to get the phone, a Nokia 3110, from his pocket.

The other suspect then also asked Jumao-as for her phone and took the item, a Sony Ericsson aside from P3,000 cash collection.

Juamao-as in an interview over radio station dySS yesterday morning, shortly after the robbery, said that she was told to open the vault, but could not do so since the key was with another employee, who wasn''t due in until later that day.

In her fear, she however told them that there was a small safe where they kept cash and jewelry, which the robbers eventually took.

While the commotion inside the pawnshop was taking place, a concerned citizen had already alerted the police about the incident.

Responding policemen were already at the area when the two men tried to make a run for it. To free themselves from what would have been a stalemate, they took Jumao-as as hostage then fired shots to hold off the law enforcers before letting go of the hostage a few meters from the pawnshop.

The two men fled on foot towards sitio Lusimba, which is behind the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish Church.

Their look out later joined the two men as they fled towards the hilly portion leading to the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, where a further exchange of gunfire took place between the robbers and the pursuing policemen.

Jaboc was the first to be arrested on the hilly portion below the golf course.

Off-duty policeman PO2 Glicerio Bellita of the Punta Princesa Police Station was the one who recovered the safe. Bellita said that he was sleeping in his residence located near the pawnshop when neighbors woke him and informed him of the robbery.

Bellita told radio station dySS that he saw the small safe near the church and a man who was acting suspiciously nearby.

He said that he asked a soldier, who also lived nearby to guard the safe and he arrested the man, who later turned out to be just a kibitzer, but was still booked for having a knife in his possession.

Jaboc admitted his participation in the robbery during interrogation by the police and identified the people, who allegedly masterminded the crime.

Jaboc was also positively identified by Madraga as the one who poked a gun at him.

The suspect also led the police to the safehouse in Jaclupan, Talisay City, where the alleged masterminds were arrested.

While a team was in Talisay, another group led by Pardo Police chief Sr. Insp. Aureo Sanchez was actively pursuing the two other suspects in barangay Quiot.

The pursuing policemen eventually made the arrest in sitio Mayupay while the two suspects were buying slippers from a store.

Sanchez said that a tip from a motorcycle for hire driver, who was the one who transported them to the nearby barangay Quiot from barangay Pardo.

The two were identified as brothers Bernard, 28, and Alvin, 30, Caramilan. They too are from Calatrava town.

Sanchez said that one reason that resulted to the immediate arrest of the suspects was their lack of familiarity of the place.

In Talisay City, the team led by Insp. Michael Bastes, which had Jaboc as guide, arrested Alex Ibaño, his mother Ellen, and Cannyboy Temple.

Alex is reportedly a college teacher in one of the universities here. He was allegedly the one who studied the pawnshop last weekend.

His mother was allegedly the one who provided the weapon while Temple allegedly recruited the three men in Negros five days ago.

The vault was still unopened when it was recovered and the police also got back P23,000 cash, the phones of the two pawnshop employees and the guard''s firearm.

In March last year, a branch of the Exquisite Pawnshop and Jewelry located along A. S. Fortuna St. in Mandaue City was robbed by three men of jewelry worth P6 million.

The pawnshop has a total of 41 branches all over Visayas and Mindanao.

Exquisite Pawnshop is a member of the Norkis Group of Companies owned by the Quisumbing family. - /NLQ