Cops collar 3 suspects: Robbers shoot, hurt American

CEBU - An American national, who is in town to marry his fiancée, was shot by fleeing robbers after they divested him and his friends of their cameras at a convenience store in barangay Mabolo yesterday morning.

The quick action of the residents in the area and the immediate response of the policemen however resulted to the arrest of the three suspects.

Tim Timmerman, 31, a native of Chicago Illinois, sustained a lone gunshot wound in his stomach and is now recuperating at the Perpetual Succour Hospital. The police would not however reveal his status.

Timmerman along with his friend Andrew Preston, 32, of Wugtose, Wisconsin, and his sister Tammy Timmerman or Dells, Wisconsin, were having drinks at the 8 to 8 Convenience Store when the robbery took place.

Police said that the robbers approached the group and immediately pointed a gun declaring a hold up.

While one of the suspects held the gun, the two others searched the victims and took their valuables.

The suspects took Tammy Timmerman’s Sony Cybershot Camera worth 200 dollars; while Preston was stripped of his HD Canon Vixia HF100 Camcorder worth 900 dollars.

The robbers tried to commandeer a taxi cab, but the driver who got scared of the gun pointed at him, jumped out of the cab and ran.

Sr. Insp. Michael Anthony Bastes, chief of the Theft and Robbery Section, said that this gave Timmerman the opportunity to go after the suspects.

The suspects, who were trying to leave the place on foot, fired once hitting Timerman.

Bastes said, the robbers fled to a grassy area, but pursuing policemen from the Mobile Patrol Group, Task Force Motorista and Mabolo Police Station collared them at sitio Paray, barangay Kasambagan a few minutes later.

The police official said that the commotion caught the attention of the people in the area, who immediately dialed for police assistance.

Arrested were Carlo Villarin, 32, a resident of sitio Santa Lucia, barangay Kasambagan; Christian Dawal, 19, of sitio Villa Aurora, barangay Kasambagan and Roy Rabaca, neighbor of Dawal.

Bastes told The Freeman the three are not listed as among the notorious robbers in the city, but are allegedly members of Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.

The police were able to recover all the things the robbers took and also found several drug paraphernalia for sniffing ‘shabu’ and a homemade .38 caliber revolver with four empty shells from Villarin.

Bastes said, the two suspects also tagged Villarin as the shooter.

The police official is now confirming reports that the suspects are involved in other crimes in the city.

He police would be going to court today to determine if there are pending or standing warrants of arrest against the three.

The Americans along with their families reportedly arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport yesterday dawn and are staying in a hotel in barangay Kasambagan for the wedding of Timmerman this January. /NLQ (THE FREEMAN)