Russian fights off snatcher; reporter’s house burglarized

A 21-year-old female Russian tourist fell victim to two snatchers on a motorcycle but fought off to catch one of the suspects before escaping right in front of a fast-food outlet along F. Cabahug Street in barangay Kasambagan on Friday.

The victim, Julia Chulkova, has been staying at a hotel in barangay Lahug with another Russian tourist Elena Filipova. They were taking pictures near the fast-food when a man approached them and grabbed Chulkova’s digital camera, then ran towards a waiting motorcycle nearby.

Chulkova refused to let the snatcher go free, prompting her to chase him. Just as the snatcher got on the motorcycle, Chulkova was able to get hold of his backpack, and pulled him down from the vehicle. 

The suspect quickly stood up and tried to run but Chulkova and her friend gave chase and this commotion caught the attention of three traffic enforcers—Joseph Fredreguilan, Bonifacio Gaviola, and Fernando Miñoza— and a passing policeman, PO3 Gerardo Fiel.

The traffic men and the policemen immediately responded and caught the fleeing suspect, later identified as 23-year-old Jovencio Erjas of barangay T. Padilla. His companion who escaped with the motorcycle upon seeing him fell was already identified as Hendrell Dajudo.

Chulkova’s camera, worth P30,000, was recovered.

Meanwhile, unidentified burglars struck at the house of Edwin Ian Melecio, staff reporter of The Freeman and Banat News, at Simoun Street in barangay Pari-an yesterday dawn and fled with his wrist watch and the contents of the coin banks of his children.

Melecio and his family were sleeping when their tenants, Jury Ferenal and Evangeline Soronio, woke them up to alert them about some coins scattered on the “dirty” kitchen at the back of their house.

Melecio immediately went to the area and found out that two of his children’s coin banks were forcibly opened and the P5 and P10 coins saved by his son and daughter, estimated to reach P3,000 were already stolen.

The coin banks, Melecio said were placed on top of the refrigerator in the living room along with two other coin banks, a Seiko 5 wristwatch worth over P4,000 and a Sony tape recorder. The smaller metal coin bank and the recorder were left behind by the burglars.

Policemen arrived at the scene and investigated the incident. They took latent prints that might have been left behind by the burglars for future identification.

Melecio suspected that the burglars could have gain entry by jumping over the concrete fence at the back of the house then climbing the concrete water tank near a window of the second floor to gain entry into the ground floor of the house and steal the items.  — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE