Police corner 2 rob suspects digging tunnel leading to pawnshop

Suspected robbers were only  three meters away from their target of opportunity when concerned citizens alerted police about a possible break-in of  a pawnshop in Quezon City Thursday.

PO3 Bernardo Guerrero of the Quezon City Police District identified the suspects as Elmer Acosta, 36, and George Lipato, 45, of Cainta, Rizal province.

Guerrero said the suspects were caught digging a tunnel from  their rented unit leading to a pawnshop across the street along J. P. Rizal Street in Barangay Sta. Lucia, Novaliches.

The policeman said work on the tunnel  was almost complete when they arrested the suspects.

“They were at least three meters away from the pawnshop when neighbors reported a suspicious sound coming from the area,” Guerrero said.

An investigation showed that the suspects rented the unit from a still unidentified woman  and occupied it on March 22.

“At first, we thought the noise  came from  renovations and improvements on the unit, but it came  from underneath the building. That made us suspicious,” neighbors told  the police.

The building’s owner, together with barangay officials,  accompanied the police who traced the source of the noise and caught two men inside   the tunnel.

Seized from the suspects were excavation tools, an acetylene tank, a bulb, screw driver, a drill, two crow bars and  gloves.

Guerrero said the pair  already   dug a five-meter-long tunnel from their unit to the canal in front of the pawnshop when they were discovered.

He added that  the pawnshop had inadequate security measures and, therefore, was an easy target.

“There was no closed circuit television camera. No security guard was around,”  the police official said.

The owner of the commercial unit rented by the suspects told the police that the woman who initially inspected the unit had paid a deposit of P15,000 to lease the unit.

The woman reportedly told the owner that the unit would    be used as a rice and grocery store, Guerrero said.