'Jumper Gang' member falls in Sta. Cruz

MANILA, Philippines - Police officers and a barangay official arrested a member of the “Jumper Gang” caught stealing an air conditioning unit from a delivery truck in Sta. Cruz, Manila shortly before noon yesterday.

Virgilio Casimiro, 28, a resident of Dagat-Dagatan, Navotas City, confessed to stealing from delivery vehicles and named his cohorts as “Andrei” and “Bernie.”

Police dubbed Casimiro’s group as “jumpers” due to their ability to climb on board fast-moving vehicles and steal their contents without the driver’s knowledge. They use bolt cutters to destroy the vehicle’s locks and then unload the goods during traffic stops.

Sta. Cruz police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut said he received several complaints from motorists who lost goods to the gang, and he deployed policemen to man areas where the thefts frequently occurred.

Casimiro said he and his gang climbed on board a traveling delivery truck of Abenson Appliances, cut its lock and entered inside. Once the truck got stuck in traffic along Tayuman street in Sta. Cruz, the gang unloaded a brand new Condura aircon unit worth P13,700.

The group was already carrying the stolen unit when patrolling policemen and barangay official Ariel Nulud spotted them. The gang members left the aircon unit and ran away, but Casimiro was arrested after a brief chase.

Meanwhile, Yabut announced yesterday the arrest of Jonathan Ampo, alias “Bong,” 29, one of the police’s most wanted suspects for a series of robberies in Sta. Cruz.

Ampo is suspected of robbing Feliciano Ayroso, the so-called “Little Mayor” in Binondo for his charitable works.