Metrobriefs

Thieves take even baby clothes

A taxi driver and his cohort who was  armed with a screwdriver robbed a Singaporean man of around P35,000 in valuables, including P7,000 worth of baby clothes, in Malate, Manila, at around 3 a.m. yesterday. After leaving Muhammad Shariff Bin Mohamed Ibrahim, a 29-year-old civil engineer, practically penniless, the two robbers dropped him off in Parañaque City and sped away in the cab. Ibrahim, whose Filipino fiancee gave birth recently, had come to Manila from Sariaya in Quezon province just to buy clothes for their four-month-old baby. Jeannette I. Andrade

Taxi rob tandem shot dead

Two suspected robbers in a taxi cab were killed in a shoot-out with policemen conducting a checkpoint on Payatas Road in Quezon City before dawn Wednesday. The lawmen later found the cab driver inside the vehicle’s trunk, tied up and gagged with a towel but otherwise unharmed. Chief Supt. Mario dela Vega of the Quezon City Police District said that they had yet to identify the two men who were flagged down by a team from the Batasan police station led by Senior Insp. Roberto Razon at around 1 a.m. A third man believed to be their companion was able to flee on foot. The police said that they flagged down the Laila Union Isabela taxi (UVM 532) as it approached the checkpoint, but instead of stopping, the driver stepped on the gas and sped away. The police team immediately gave chase until the other vehicle slowed down. Two men got off the taxi cab and started shooting at their pursuers who fired back. When the two men who initiated the fire-fight fell dead, their companion escaped on foot. Case investigator SPO1 Joselito Gagaza said the real cab driver, Leo Canciano, told them he lost his wallet which contained his earnings of P3,000, driver’s license and cell phone.  Julie M. Aurelio