Cops arrest Makati condo rob suspect

The Makati City police believe that they have solved the robberies in several condominiums with the recent arrest of a man caught breaking into another unit.

PO2 Alejandro Devalid, theft and robbery investigator of the Makati City police, identified the suspect as Alexander Navarro, 38, married, jobless, resident of 3061 Cordillera St. Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Manila.

According to Devalid, the incident took place over the weekend at the Cityland 8 Condominium along Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City.

Remedios Ignacio, a tenant of the condominium, said that she heard noises outside her unit and took a peek through a crack in her door.

Ignacio saw the suspect standing directly in front of her unit, attempting to force open the door. She immediately called up the building’s security personnel and responding guard Daniel Fuentes apprehended the suspect.

Found on the suspect were an elbow tire wrench and a screwdriver used to break into the condominium units.

When brought to the Makati City police headquarters, Devalid recognized Navarro as the same person suspected of robbing another condominium unit in the city last Jan. 3.

Based on the records of the police, the suspect successfully robbed a unit at the Prince Tower Condominium in Makati City of thousands of pesos worth of jewelry and other valuables.

The suspect at that time was pursued by security guards of the building but managed to escape by jumping from the seventh floor to the sixth floor of the adjacent building.

The computerized cartographic sketch made after the Jan. 3 incident matched the features of Navarro, prompting Devalid to call up the previous robbery victim for the identification of the suspect in a police line-up.

Navarro was positively identified from the line-up prompting Devalid to inform all the condominium tenants and security personnel who were past victims of robberies to take a look at the suspect.

The suspect will be charged initially with robbery and attempted robbery for the two cases pending the arrival of the other victims. – Marvin Sy