4 men caught casing moneylender's house

Quezon City policemen arrested four men Sunday night as they were allegedly about to rob the house of a woman who lends money to city hall employees.

Three of the four suspects were alleged members of the Bahala na Gang – Arvin Pineda, 27; Renato Badando, 33; and Jaymar Riparip, 28. The fourth suspect was identified as Agustin Calicdan, 39.

The suspects were arrested at past 8 p.m. by police officers led by Inspector Angelo Nicolas and Senior Superintendent Neri Ilagan.

Riparip admitted during interrogation that they were eyeing P3 million in cash in the house of their supposed target, according to Nicolas.  

Police recovered from the group a fragmentation grenade, two revolvers and four shirts marked with the words “DPOS Security.” DPOS stands for Department of Public Order and Safety.

Nicolas said Riparip admitted they were supposed to use the t-shirts so they could enter the subdivision where their target lives and so people in the area would not suspect something was going on in the house.

“They (suspects) knew that the DPOS personnel frequent the said house (to borrow money) so they knew the supposed target had a lot of cash,” Quezon City police chief Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula said during a press conference.

The policemen were conducting a stakeout at past 8 p.m. Sunday along Mindanao Avenue upon receiving a tip. The house of the supposed target turned out to be near Mindanao Avenue.

When the police spotted the suspects in a taxicab (PXG-998), they flagged down the vehicle. The suspects sped away, but were cornered along Congressional Avenue.

Nicolas said all the suspects, except for Calicdan, have had brushes with the law.

Metro Manila police chief Director Geary Barias tagged the group as “not an ordinary syndicate.” “The weapons (recovered from the suspects) are very lethal. Their intention is to really harm their victims... From the evidence we recovered, it looks like they’re not first-timers,” he said.

Charges of illegal possession of firearms and usurpation of authority will be filed against the suspects, Nicolas said.

Gatdula appealed to the public, especially those living in subdivisions, to be vigilant against strangers entering their villages to avoid falling victim to robbery groups.