Radio reporter tackles bag snatcher

MANILA, Philippines—A radio reporter witnessed a robbery in Quezon City Tuesday night  and chased and arrested the suspect, a police report  said Wednesday.

“Kahit sino naman maagawan ng bag hahabulin ko,” this was what DWAD radio reporter Ernie dela Cruz was quoted as saying by the police after said after he captured the snatcher.

Dela Cruz, who covers the the Quezon City Police District,  said that it was purely instinct that made him run after the thief at around 8:35 p.m. along Quirino Highway in Barangay Talipapa, Novaliches.

The reporter said the alleged thief, identified as Darwin Fajardo, of Barangay San Agustin, Quezon City grabbed the bag of Marie Grace Javier 29, a teacher, while they both were aboard a jeepney near the near the Quirino-Mindanao Avenue intersection.

He said, he saw the whole incident and without thinking of safety ran after the suspect and managed to subdue him.

The bag, which contained P200 in cash, a P32,000 Blackberry mobile phone, and several identification cards, was recovered and the suspect turned over to the local police, he said.

Dela Cruz said he was waiting for a friend in a front of a store when he saw the suspect grab the victim’s bag as he alighted from the vehicle.

“May narinig ako nagsisigaw. Tapos nakita ko na yung snatcher tumatakbo (I heard someone shouting. Then I saw the snatcher running),” he said.

The snatcher  was still holding the victim’s bag when he collared him, Dela Cruz said.