Two PUJ robbers nabbed

Two suspected robbers were nabbed by patrolling operatives of the Western Police District-Special Weapons and Tactics (WPD-SWAT) after snatching the handbag of a jeepney passenger yesterday morning in Ermita, Manila.

The apprehension of the two snatchers was the result of the intensified police patrol and visibility in crime-prone areas, according to SWAT chief Senior Inspector Mauro Pereyra.

Pereyra added that suspects Marvin Santiago, of Tondo, and Sajid Magasa, of Olongapo City, have been tagged in a series of robbery-snatching incidents involving jeepney passengers in the Ermita area.

The suspects would usually wait in ambush on jeepneys plying the stretch of Taft Avenue and snatch valuables from unsuspecting jeepney passengers, Pereyra said.

At around 9:45 a.m. yesterday, a SWAT team, composed of PO2 Grant Savedia, PO2 Nilo Abarquez, PO2 Michael Patron, PO2 Salvador Nepomuceno, PO1 Edwin Simacon and PO1 Alejandro Pacho, was patrolling P. Burgos street when their attention was caught by a commotion inside a Quiapo-bound passenger jeepney.

The SWAT officers chased two fleeing men whom they subsequently caught. Recovered from the two suspects was a lady’s bag containing a cellular phone, P500 cash and other valuables. The bag was claimed by a lady passenger who told police that the suspects were the ones who snatched her bag when the jeepney she was riding stopped at a traffic light.

Charges of robbery-snatching were filed against the two suspects.