SM robbers arrested in one week?

At least P4 million in cash and jewelry were carted away by the 15 armed robbers who swooped down on SM City the other day, but police said they may not be able to enjoy the loot.

A high-ranking official of the Central Police District (CPD) said yesterday that they already have "enough leads" to arrest the suspects in Saturday’s robbery in SM City which left a security guard dead and two others injured.

The official, who requested anonymity, said in a telephone interview that the robbers are now hiding "somewhere in the south," and that they hope to solve the case within the week.

Although he did not elaborate or give specific details, the official said they have "backtracked" the suspects and are confident that they "could be apprehended this week or very soon."

According to Senior Inspector Rodolfo Jaraza, CPD-Central Investigation Unit chief, armed men got away with about P4 million in cash and jewelry after robbing three jewelry stores and a foreign exchange shop in the mall at about 10:15 a.m.

Robbed were the Brilliant Gems Jewelry store on the mall’s second floor, Gems Gallery, JP Jewelry and the Million Dollar Exchange Shop – all located on the ground floor. The heist was all over in 10 minutes.

Jaraza said that security guard, Antonio Rebato, 51, assigned at the DECS-NCR office beside the shopping mall, was shot dead when the suspects escaped through the mall’s back entrance.

Investigators said that the robbers disguised themselves as delivery boys with boxes that contained M-16 rifles and .45 caliber pistols. They used hammers to smash the glass counters of the jewelry shops.

All of them boarded a Toyota Revo without license plates after shooting Rebato. It is still unclear if the robbers are members of the "Red Scorpion Gang" or the "Bonnet Gang."

Reports said that two other people were injured during the robbery, but they have yet to confirm their identities. Rebato sustained a bullet wound in the shoulder and was pronounced dead on arrival at the JP Sioson Hospital in Bago Bantay.

Meanwhile, police are now looking for two men who robbed and stabbed dead a 17-year-old student in an FX taxi the other night in E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon City.

Victim Rudyano Romero, a resident of 29 Moscow St., Greenland Village, sustained a stab wound in the chest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Quezon City General Hospital.

The suspects, armed with fan knives escaped right after the stabbing, taking Romero’s Nokia 3310 cellphone.

Initial investigation showed that the incident occurred at about 9:10 p.m. along E. Rodriguez Avenue. Romero was the only passenger on board the FX taxi (PWU-724) when the driver stopped to wait for other commuters.

The two robbers board the vehicle and immediately announced the heist. One of the assailants demanded the victim hand over his cellphone while the other threatened him with a knife.

Romero, however, tried to put up a fight which prompted the robber to stab him once in the chest. The two men failed to divest the driver of his earnings as they immediately escaped.

The victim was rushed to the hospital where he expired at about 9:55 p.m. Police are now conducting follow-up operations to determine the robbers’ identities and whereabouts. – Matthew Estabillo