A young man on a gray Mercedes Benz, a car marquee mostly for wealthy people, snatched the P14,000 worth cellphone of a 15-year-old girl who was just walking on her way home along Molave Street at sitio Kamagong, barangay Lahug yesterday dawn.
The victim, a resident of Purok 3 at Upper Camputhaw in barangay Camputhaw, said the car stopped by her and suddenly the man alighted and grabbed her cellphone then sped off.
The girl went to the police station to report the incident. She said that she failed to have a good look at the snatcher’s face but she was able to take down the car’s license plate, which was YBD 181.
SPO1 Gaudencio Barega, of the Mabolo Police, said that investigators are now looking for the owner of the Mercedes Benz, surmising that the snatcher might just be a driver of the car’s owner.
The police have already coordinated with the Land Transportation Office-7 to verify the car’s registered owner and to trace the person who drove the vehicle at the time.
Barega said the crime scene is usually not a busy street and, at the time of the incident, it was even quieter since most residents in the area were already asleep.
City Police officer-in-charge, Supt. Pablo Labra, said that robbers have been frequenting the area to struch at people coming home late. He added that policemen, on beat patrol, would now be detailed to the place to stop a repeat of the incident.
Labra however reacted to the “Mercedes Benz” incident saying that the usual compelling reason for thieves and robbers is poverty and that they are mostly people from the slums and without clear source of livelihood.
It showed then that there are people from prominent families who already joined the fray of petty crimes, such as snatching, but probably only out of thrill, he said.
Labra said, “Ang ila gud ana dili naman kay tungod sa kapobrehon. Ang ila ‘tripping’ na lang man na o ba kaha aron masuportahan ang ilang bisyo.”
A few months ago, the police arrested people who used expensive sedans in robbing their victims. The suspects turned out to be sons of prominent people in the city. — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE