2 teens nabbed for Pandacan robberies

Police arrested Friday night two teenage boys reportedly responsible for robbing motorists along the highway in Pandacan, Manila.

Pandacan police station chief Superintendent Abad Osit presented Christian Torno, 18, and his 17-year-old accomplice to the media yesterday. Seized from the suspects were an improvised pen gun and two 9-millimeter and .45 caliber bullets.

According to Osit, the suspects would lie in wait at a dark intersection of Labores Extension in Pandacan and climb into vehicles when the traffic signal turns red. At gunpoint, the suspects would then rob their victims of their valuables.

A police checkpoint at the Zamora interlink received a report from three passengers of an L-300 Canter delivery van (XTW-900) that they were held up by two teens with an improvised pen gun along Labores Extension. The victims said the suspects beat them when they tried to resist.

Osit and his men proceeded to the area and found the two suspects, who tried to resist arrest. The victims identified the two teens as the ones who robbed them, according to Osit.

At the police station, the two suspects tried to mislead investigators by giving fictitious names.

The suspects were charged with attempted robbery with physical injuries, illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, violation of the election gun ban, resisting arrest and concealing their true names.

Osit called on other people who were robbed along Labores Extension to identify the suspects, who are detained at the Pandacan police station jail. – Nestor Etolle