Off-duty cop takes on rob gang

An off-duty Manila policeman, with his young son in tow, engaged a gang of armed men during a heist at a bakeshop along Taft Avenue, Manila shortly before noon yesterday.

Senior Police Officer 1 Solomon Marcial of the Western Police District (WPD) was buying a cake with his son at the Goldilocks Bakeshop branch at the corner of Julio Nakpil street in Taft Avenue at about 11:45 a.m. when four men, pretending to be customers, entered the establishment.

When one of the men reached the cashier, he pulled out a caliber .45 pistol and announced a holdup. His companions followed suit and pulled out their weapons.

Marcial, who was in civilian clothes, promptly sought cover with his young son, pulled out his gun and fired at the suspects, who retaliated.

No one was injured in the one-minute exchange of gunfire. Marcial and his son luckily survived a hail of bullets.

The four suspects escaped on board parked motorcycles.

WPD-Theft and Robbery Section head Chief Inspector Benjamin Reyes said his men, who immediately responded after hearing the alarm sounded off by the District Tactical Operations Center (DTOC), missed the suspects by just a couple of minutes.

No policeman from the Ermita police station, which has jurisdiction over the area, was at the vicinity at the time of the robbery, according to witnesses.

The store’s armed security guard also failed to stop the fleeing suspects.

Reyes said at least P100,000, representing the store’s sales, were reportedly taken by the robbers.

Several spent shells from caliber .45 and .38 pistols were recovered at the scene.

Witnesses referred to the police rogue gallery for the possible identification of the suspects as cartographic sketches of the robbers were furnished to investigators. – Nestor Etolle