Police uncovered this after Patrick Carpio, 14, of Kamuning, Quezon City, fell prey to a new modus operandi the other day.
Patrick, a chess aficionado like his father, STAR Sports assistant editor Gerry Carpio, was lured to watch a group of men solving a chess puzzle for bets at an underpass in front of Farmers Plaza along Edsa, Cubao, Quezon City at about 9 p.m.
The young Carpio was approached by one of the men identified later as Samuel Encillo.
Encillo, 41, enticed Patrick to try solving the puzzle, persuading him to bet his cell phone that was bulging in his pocket. Patrick ignored Encillo.
Moments later, Patrick’s cell phone rang, prompting him to answer the call.
Encillo grabbed the cell phone, telling the boy to solve the puzzle or he would divest him of his cell phone. Threatened, Patrick was not able to make a move and failed to solve the puzzle. He was given only five seconds.
The hapless Patrick went home sans his cell phone and told his parents about his ordeal.
The next day, accompanied by his father, the boy reported the incident to Superintendent Rosendo Franco, chief of the Central Police District-Station 7 in Cubao.
Franco immediately dispatched SPO4 Albert Gatus and PO2 Ricardo Manipon to track down the suspects.
When confronted by the victim and the police, Encillo readily admitted to his crime and apologized to Patrick, telling him that he could no longer return the cell phone as he had sold it for P2,700 but agreed to pay the victim P7,800, the original price of the stolen Nokia 3330 cell phone.
Despite the arrangement, the police arrested Encillo and charges were filed against him. –Pete Laude