‘Wheels of crime’ recovered

Manila police recovered yesterday a dark-green Honda Civic believed to have been used in a series of pre-dawn robberies in Quezon City.

Investigators from the Westren Police District said the Civic (UJU-218) was abandoned by at least four robbers at the corner of Laura and Carreon Streets in Pandacan, Manila last Sunday.

The car, which was stolen, had been on the "flash-alarm" list of the Metro police office.

Officers entered the house where the car was parked but found no one.

Instead the police found three motorcycles, a Philippine Marines bull cap, drug paraphernalia, a caliber .38 revolver and numerous credit cards, ATM cards, IDs and wallets belonging to holdup victims.

"The suspects apparently sensed they were being followed, so they abandoned the car and their hideout," a policeman said.

The car was used in the robbery of an eatery in Quezon City midnight yesterday, where a 19-year-old-boy was shot.

Victim Eric Perea, a resident of 20 Kamuning street, suffered a bullet wound in the jaw and is now in critical condition at the St. Luke’s Hospital.

The robbers, armed with handguns, fled on board the Honda Civic after the incident. They stole several cellular phones, valuables, and a still undetermined amount of cash.

Reports showed that Perea, along with other customers, were eating at a small eatery located along Judge Jimenez street in Kamuning when the gunmen arrived and announced the holdup. The robbers divested the customers of their belongings, but Perea put up a fight and was shot by one of the robbers. – With Matthew Estabillo