Snatcher coughs up evidence

Frightened by the prospect that his stomach would be cut open, a snatcher forced himself to vomit at the police headquarters in Mandaluyong City yesterday to "cough up" the necklace he earlier stole.

With the recovery of the stolen item, Senior Superintendent Sukarno Ikbala, Mandaluyong City police chief, ordered the filing of theft and snatching charges against suspect Jack Pacilla, 34.

And worse, Pacilla will most likely spend the rest of the year in jail as government offices will be closed from today until Jan. 1.

Ikbala said Pacilla grabbed the necklace of Carmen Rivera, 25, a government employee, while she was walking near the underpass at EDSA-Crossing in Mandaluyong City at 11:30 a.m. yesterday.

As Pacilla tried to flee with the necklace, Rivera regained her bearings and ran after him while shouting for help.

Her shouts alerted PO2 Alex Consigna and PO2 Remigio Cia, of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority-Traffic Management Group who gave chase and arrested Pacilla.

At first the suspect denied the charges against him after he was turned over to the Mandaluyong City police. But under intense grilling, he admitted the crime and said he swallowed the necklace to conceal the evidence.

Unable to hold Pacilla for a longer time because of the absence of evidence, prober SPO3 Robert Eugenio, along with Consigna and Cia, tricked the suspect into coughing up the necklace. They said the suspect may have to go to the hospital for an operation so the necklace can be retrieved.

Pacilla was silent for a while inside the Criminal Investigation Division office of the Mandaluyong City police until he threw up and returned the necklace.

"Naramdaman kong umikot ang aking sikmura nang sabihin no’ng mga pulis na hihiwain ang tiyan ko para makuha ang ebidensiya sa loob. Takot po kasi ako sa operasyon," Pacilla said. — Non Alquitran