Charges filed against pawnshop rob suspects

CHARGES of illegal possession of firearms and drugs were filed against the two men accused of robbing and shooting down an M.Lhuillier pawnshop teller in Toledo City last Friday.

Pableto “Pabling” Napoles was charged with robbery with homicide while Tristan Purisima was charged with robbery and illegal drug possession before the Toledo City Prosecutor’s Office yesterday.

Insp. Bonifacio U. Lucerna, acting Toledo City police chief, said M.Lhuillier branch manager Nerissa Ulgazan confirmed to them that the bag supposedly stolen by the two men from teller Domingo del Pilar contained P2.5 million in cash.

In a phone interview, M.Lhuiller lawyer Bayani Atup said he has yet to receive a report about last Friday’s incident.  “I am still making a follow up (in regard to the exact amount stolen),” Atup said.

Del Pilar was shot down after withdrawing the money from the Toledo City branch of Metrobank near the pawnshop.  Lucerna said they secured two witnesses against the suspects.

The witnesses said the gunman wore a surgical mask while the motorcycle driver didn’t cover his face. Napoles and Purisima denied the charges against them.

Last Saturday, Napoles was arrested outside his rented house in barangay Lutopan, Toledo City, while Purisima was caught outside his rented house in barangay Talavera, also in Toledo City.  Recovered from Napoles’ home were one .357 revolver, one .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, one hand grenade, one cell phone and a green handbag inside.

Taken from Purisima’s rented house were one large and one medium sachets of a substance suspected to be shabu, one loaded .22-caliber revolver, one holster, one aluminum tin foil and a leather wallet. The police crime lab confirmed that the sachets taken from Purisima tested positive for shabu. Correspondent Rhea Ruth V. Rosell