Suspect in TV reporter house robbery shot dead

MANILA, Philippines – Authorities believed that they shot dead on Monday morning one of the suspects responsible for robbing the house of ABS-CBN reporter Jay Ruiz last week.

Radyo Inquirer 990AM reports said that one of two suspected thieves killed in BF Homes Subdivision, Barangay (village) Holy Spirit in Quezon City looked like the armed robber whose image was caught on Ruiz’s neighbor’s CCTV (closed circuit television) camera.

Superintendent Ronnie Montejo, commander of Station 6 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said their operatives immediately responded after they were alerted by BF Homes security guards of several suspicious individuals on board a red Toyota Innova (TKI-245) who were roaming the streets of the subdivision at 5:30 a.m.

Senior Inspector Robert Razon, one of the officers who chased the suspects, told Radyo Inquirer that they caught the suspects stealing a bicycle from one of the houses in the subdivision.

The suspects, armed with pistols, were killed near a vacant lot at the corner of Ventura and Sandico Streets.

Montejo said they were looking for other suspects, who managed to escape during the encounter. He said they were also checking if the suspects were part of a criminal syndicate.

Despite this, Ruiz told Radyo Inquirer 990AM that he and several other victims of robberies in their village were forming a neighborhood watch group to prevent other heists from being carried out.

“Dapat tayo mismo, labanan natin ang krimen… Mismong mamamayan ang aaksyon para guwardiyahan ang village para hindi na magsisihan,” he said.

Ruiz revealed that thieves recently broke into St. Peter’s Basilica along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City to steal its cross and chalice.

While he covered the police beat for three years, Ruiz admitted that he  could not sleep well since his home was robbed and was thinking of filing a complaint against their village’s security agency for negligence.

Listen to Radyo Inquirer 990AM for more reports.