Police clueless on twin killings in Quezon City

THE QUEZON City police are facing a blank wall in the cases of two women who both died a violent death within 24 hours of each other.

“Our men have been deployed to gather evidence and witnesses on the two cases but as of now, we have nothing yet,” Senior Supt. Ranier Idio, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) head of operations, told the Inquirer yesterday.

The Inquirer tried to reach QCPD director Chief Supt. George Regis to get his reaction on the two cases but he did not respond to phone calls and text messages.

Idio said they were looking at several angles in the two cases.

At around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, event organizer Cheryl Agnes Sarmiento was behind the wheel of her husband’s car when several armed men alighted from a van and shot her.

The shooting took place on  Regalado Street corner Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

On Wednesday morning, Teresa Teano was on her way to a yoga class when she was shot and run over by two men who took her car in Kamuning, Quezon City.

Her death came just days after the QCPD announced the arrest of five suspected car thieves and the recovery of two stolen vehicles.

Robbery incident

With the cases still awaiting resolution, a robbery was reported Thursday in the city.

According to the police, a man barged inside a compound which housed a production and computer services company in Barangay Bahay Toro at around noon.

Supt. Carlito Feliciano, QCPD  Station 6 commander, said they were conducting pursuit operations against the man who was able to take more than P500,000.

He added, however, that they were not ruling out the possibility that the robbery was an inside job.

“A lone robber boldly entered a guarded compound. He must have received help or information that there was a large amount of money [in the compound] at that time,” Feliciano said.

Based on a police report, the man who has yet to be identified barged inside the Millisys Distribution Inc. compound at around noon.

A security guard tried to stop him but the robber shot him and then made straight for the car of production manager Marvin Nacionales.

At that time, Nacionales had just entered the compound and was parking his car. Inside the vehicle was a bag containing the P540,000 he withdrew from a bank.

The robber took the bag which contained the money and then escaped on a motorcycle which was parked several meters away from the gate of the compound.

The police said the guard shot by the robber, Reynaldo Bato, was reported to be in guarded condition at East Avenue Medical center.

Kidnap and rape case

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old high school student accused three men of kidnapping and raping her in Quezon City.

According to the alleged victim, the incident happened while she was on her way to school on Monday.

Supt. Ronnie Montejo, QCPD Station 6 commander, said two of the three men whom the girl had tagged were arrested separately in Caloocan City.

The third man, on the other hand, remains at large.

Montejo identified those arrested as Jomer Damaso, 25, a canteen helper based in Caloocan City; and a 17-year-old boy who lives in Caloocan.

He said a manhunt operation for the third man was ongoing.

Damaso and the 17-year-old boy were arrested in a follow-up operation by policemen in their homes after the victim filed a complaint against them.

Based on the statement the victim gave to the police, she was walking on her way to school when the three men who were in a tricycle blocked her path and forced her to come with them.

She said the three brought her to a grassy vacant lot in Barangay Lagro where they raped her.

The victim told the police that after the rape, the men took her back to the area where they had picked her up and left her there.

The victim, the police official said, immediately reported the crime which led to the arrest of the two suspects.