Messenger pursues hired killer
March 3, 2006 | 12:00am
An alert messenger played a key role in the arrest of a hired killer who stabbed and seriously wounded a housewife in Mandaluyong City last Wednesday, minutes after she attended the court hearing of a bigamy case she filed against her seaman husband.
The suspect, Jeoffrey Cuarte, 45, of Old Balara, Quezon City took several car and bus rides apparently to throw away police pursuers after stabbing Emma Gabido, 49, four times in the body.
However, unknown to Cuarte, messenger Nick Longcop, 29, tailed him on board his motorcycle and had him arrested by policemen in Quezon City.
"The messenger’s presence of mind played a key role in the arrest of Cuarte," said Superintendent Ericson Velasquez, Mandaluyong City police chief, adding other peace-loving citizens should emulate what the messenger had done so more crimes would be solved by police.
Velasquez said Cuarte, a messenger of Excel Quality Inc., was cruising along EDSA from Makati City when attracted by a commotion at the corner of Reliance street at noon last Wednesday.
Gabido and her sister, Elena Gonzales, had just alighted from a passenger jeepney and waiting for a bus bound for Las Piñas when Cuarte stabbed the former twice in the back, on her left arm and on the right forearm.
Gonzales rushed Gabido to the V. Potenciano Medical Center.
Still carrying the bladed weapon, Cuarte fled the crime scene and later boarded a Mitsubishi Lancer with plate number TSE 843.
Longcop, who witnessed the stabbing incident, decided to follow Cuarte.
The messenger later told Velasquez that Cuarte disembarked from the car at the corner of ADB Avenue and EDSA and took a bus bound for Quezon City.
Upon reaching Cubao, Cuarte alighted from the bus and transferred to the opposite lane also to take a southbound bus, apparently to his final destination.
Longcop asked for help from PO3 Joseph Salinel and PO2 Roselito Garcia, members of a mobile unit from Station 7 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).
Cuarte was then arrested.
During tactical interrogation, the suspect admitted a man hired him to kill Gabido for P20,000.
The suspect claimed he did not know who hired him.
Velasquez said they are building up a case against the mastermind in Gabido’s attempted murder.
Police are set to file attempted murder charges against Cuarte.
A 27-year-old company messenger, who wanted to impress a girl he was courting, ran off with $10,000 (roughly P.5 million) he had withdrawn from a bank in Binondo, Manila last Monday.
However, alert Manila policemen arrested the still drunk suspect before he could squander the cash that belonged to his employer.
Jennifer Nasalga, a native of Iloilo, and a resident of Caloocan City, admitted taking the cash to impress a waitress he has been dating for a couple of months.
Police recovered the amount, minus $300, which the suspect admitted changing to pesos for his expenses.
According to Chief Inspector Benjamin Reyes, chief of the Manila Police District’s Theft and Robbery Section, one Felix Yu, owner of the ESP Trends based in San Juan, Metro Manila, sought police assistance after Nasalga failed to return to the office after withdrawing $10,000 from a local bank branch in Binondo.
After a background check on the suspect, Reyes directed his men to monitor beerhouses along C.M. Recto in Sta. Cruz for the possible apprehension of the suspect.
"I learned that the suspect was courting a waitress at one of the beerhouses in Sta. Cruz. Considering that he had lots of money to spend, the beerhouse could be one of the places he might try to visit and spend his cash," Reyes told The STAR.
The official’s hunch was proven correct when plainclothes policemen, who were given Nasalga’s photo, spotted the already drunken suspect along C.M. Recto the same night.
Nasalga, who had been employed with Yu’s firm for almost three years now, said he would ask for forgiveness from his boss and vowed never to repeat his misdeeds.
" I was only tempted," he said while inside a detention cell.
Charges of qualified theft were filed against the suspect, even as Reyes and his men earned the gratitude of Yu for their prompt police action that led to the recovery of the money. – Non Alquitran, Nestor Etolle
The suspect, Jeoffrey Cuarte, 45, of Old Balara, Quezon City took several car and bus rides apparently to throw away police pursuers after stabbing Emma Gabido, 49, four times in the body.
However, unknown to Cuarte, messenger Nick Longcop, 29, tailed him on board his motorcycle and had him arrested by policemen in Quezon City.
"The messenger’s presence of mind played a key role in the arrest of Cuarte," said Superintendent Ericson Velasquez, Mandaluyong City police chief, adding other peace-loving citizens should emulate what the messenger had done so more crimes would be solved by police.
Velasquez said Cuarte, a messenger of Excel Quality Inc., was cruising along EDSA from Makati City when attracted by a commotion at the corner of Reliance street at noon last Wednesday.
Gabido and her sister, Elena Gonzales, had just alighted from a passenger jeepney and waiting for a bus bound for Las Piñas when Cuarte stabbed the former twice in the back, on her left arm and on the right forearm.
Gonzales rushed Gabido to the V. Potenciano Medical Center.
Still carrying the bladed weapon, Cuarte fled the crime scene and later boarded a Mitsubishi Lancer with plate number TSE 843.
Longcop, who witnessed the stabbing incident, decided to follow Cuarte.
The messenger later told Velasquez that Cuarte disembarked from the car at the corner of ADB Avenue and EDSA and took a bus bound for Quezon City.
Upon reaching Cubao, Cuarte alighted from the bus and transferred to the opposite lane also to take a southbound bus, apparently to his final destination.
Longcop asked for help from PO3 Joseph Salinel and PO2 Roselito Garcia, members of a mobile unit from Station 7 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).
Cuarte was then arrested.
During tactical interrogation, the suspect admitted a man hired him to kill Gabido for P20,000.
The suspect claimed he did not know who hired him.
Velasquez said they are building up a case against the mastermind in Gabido’s attempted murder.
Police are set to file attempted murder charges against Cuarte.
However, alert Manila policemen arrested the still drunk suspect before he could squander the cash that belonged to his employer.
Jennifer Nasalga, a native of Iloilo, and a resident of Caloocan City, admitted taking the cash to impress a waitress he has been dating for a couple of months.
Police recovered the amount, minus $300, which the suspect admitted changing to pesos for his expenses.
According to Chief Inspector Benjamin Reyes, chief of the Manila Police District’s Theft and Robbery Section, one Felix Yu, owner of the ESP Trends based in San Juan, Metro Manila, sought police assistance after Nasalga failed to return to the office after withdrawing $10,000 from a local bank branch in Binondo.
After a background check on the suspect, Reyes directed his men to monitor beerhouses along C.M. Recto in Sta. Cruz for the possible apprehension of the suspect.
"I learned that the suspect was courting a waitress at one of the beerhouses in Sta. Cruz. Considering that he had lots of money to spend, the beerhouse could be one of the places he might try to visit and spend his cash," Reyes told The STAR.
The official’s hunch was proven correct when plainclothes policemen, who were given Nasalga’s photo, spotted the already drunken suspect along C.M. Recto the same night.
Nasalga, who had been employed with Yu’s firm for almost three years now, said he would ask for forgiveness from his boss and vowed never to repeat his misdeeds.
" I was only tempted," he said while inside a detention cell.
Charges of qualified theft were filed against the suspect, even as Reyes and his men earned the gratitude of Yu for their prompt police action that led to the recovery of the money. – Non Alquitran, Nestor Etolle
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