Acetylene Gang falls

A stolen wristwatch recognized by a victim of a recent pawnshop and dental clinic heists in San Andres, Manila led to the apprehension of four suspected members of the notorious pawnshop robbery group dubbed by the police as the "Acetylene Gang."

Senior Inspector Leopoldo Mangilinan, chief of the Western Police District’s Theft and Robbery Section, said a wristwatch worn by Antonio Tomel-ang, 28, of Reserba, Baler, Aurora province, was recognized by the owner of a dental clinic the group robbed simultaneously with the Ablaza Pawnshop last Sept. 13.

Tomel-ang, together with Cris Doscalen, 35, of Bagalangit, Mabini, Batangas; Danilo Pespes, 30, of 10 Magsaysay st., Signal Village, Taguig; and Emilio Molina, 29, of Reserba, Baler, Aurora, were arrested by Mangilinan and his men following a car chase that started in Pasay City and ended along the Osmeña Highway in San Andres, Manila.

Mangilinan said the group had been under surveillance since Sept. 14 following a tip from an informant that the suspects had been holed in Winston Motel in Pasay City.

Five suspects left the Winston Motel last Monday on board a silver Isuzu Big Horn van (EBP-444) but sped off after sensing that they were being followed by police operatives.

The four suspects gave up peacefully after their driver abandoned the van as the police closed in. Recovered from the suspects were a boltcutter, mallet, hammer, steel saw and steel chisels.

Officer-on-case SPO1 Celso Tan said the four suspects were part of the seven-man Acetylene Gang led by Pespes, who robbed the Ablaza Pawnshop and adjacent Ilagan Dental Clinic in San Andres, Manila last Sept. 13.

Tan said the group rented a room at the second floor of the building where both establishments are located and introduced themselves as seamen applying for jobs abroad.

The suspects then tried to bore a hole through the flooring to gain entrance to the pawnshop below their room. But due to thick cement flooring, the suspects managed to gain entry at the pawnshop through the aircon duct. The suspects then used an acetylene torch to open the steel vault of the pawnshop, while their companions robbed the adjacent dental clinic. Jewelry and dental equipment worth millions of pesos were taken by the suspects in both establishments.

Except for the wristwatch worn by Tomel-ang, the suspects said they had already disposed of the loot.