2 taxi robbers killed in shoot-out

Two suspected cabbie robbers were killed in a shoot-out with responding policemen before dawn Saturday after the suspects had just divested a taxi driver of his earnings in Quezon City.

The suspects, however, have not yet been identified as of press time. The incident happened at around 3:15 a.m. along Mercury Street in Barangay Tandang Sora.

One of the slain suspects had a Sputnik tattoo and the name Glenn tattooed on his body, and was described as between 23 to 25 years old, 5’3”, slim, fair skin and wearing black pants and a shirt.

Case investigator PO2 Jogene Hernandez of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit said the other suspect sported a Bahala tattoo on his right leg and the names Tata, Fuerte, Allan, and Quiambao on his body.

He was described to be 5’1” in height, between 23 and 25 years old, slim, fair complexion and wearing a black jacket, black sando, and black pants.

Cab driver, Edwin Morales, 30, of Caloocan City, pointed to the two slain suspects as the ones who robbed him of his earnings.

Morales was driving an R and E taxi (TXZ 370) when the two suspects flagged him at 2:30 a.m. in front of the Sandiganbayan along Commonwealth Ave and asked to be brought to Project 8.

Upon reaching Cherry Foodarama on Congressional Avenue the suspects declared the heist at gunpoint and seized the cabbie’s wallet.

Morales said he was ordered to drive on and was told to get out of the cab at the corner of Mercury and Apollo Streets in Barangay Tandang Sora.

The cabbie, however, chanced upon a police patrol car of the Talipapa police station and sought help. The policemen brought Morales with them as they pursued the robbers.

Hernandez said Mercury Street was a dead end road, forcing the suspects to turn back during which the policemen encountered them.

Upon seeing the patrol car, the suspects got out of the cab and began firing at the policemen who fired back killing the two robbers.

Police recovered two .38 caliber revolvers and Morales’s wallet containing his driver’s license and P1,000 of his earnings from the suspects.

Hernandez said they also found a wallet containing documents with the name John Ryan Abarriso from the suspect with the Sputnik tattoo.