Thief nabbed for abducting, training ‘apprentice’

A 28-YEAR-OLD former detainee of the Manila City Jail may soon end up behind bars again following his arrest by the police for the kidnapping of a University of Santo Tomas student whom he taught how to steal.

The victim, a 12-year-old boy, told the police that in the 11 days he spent with Robert Cachero, he learned how to pick pockets and other ways to rob people.

Cachero, a member of the Batang City Jail gang, had just been released from prison after he was convicted on theft charges.

On Monday night, operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 3 arrested him in his house on Bambang Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila, where they also found the boy.

MPD Station 3 commander Supt. James Afalla said that his men were able to track down Cachero based on the information they received from street dwellers who spotted the former detainee with the victim.

Runaway boy

According to the police official, the boy ran away from his home in Sampaloc on April 14. He went to Quiapo where Cachero found him the next day and befriended him.

“The suspect took the boy to his house, offering him food and shelter. The offer lured the boy,” Afalla said.

During the time he spent with Cachero, the boy said he was initiated to a life of crime.

“I asked him [Cachero] why he took the boy [in], he claimed that he was teaching the boy the ways of surviving [in] the streets,” Afalla said.

He added that this meant robbing people, particularly picking pockets, snatching bags and other forms of robbery.

Afalla said that the boy had denied that the former prisoner had threatened to harm him if he refused to steal.

A police operation was set for Cachero’s arrest and the boy’s rescue after the latter’s parents filed a complaint on Monday morning with the MPD Station 3.

At around this time, the police also received information about Cachero’s whereabouts.

When asked why he did not turn over the runaway boy to the barangay or police, Cachero claimed that he was afraid to approach the authorities and ask them for help.

He remains detained at the MPD Station 3 holding cell pending the filing of a kidnapping charge against him with the city prosecutor’s office.