‘Spiderman’ snared

The cat burglar whom police dubbed as Talisay City’s “Spiderman” after he managed to hide in a mall and steal from its shops for days before a shop clerk saw his foot jut out from the ceiling was arrested Wednesday two months after he successfully slipped past a police cordon.

Police said “Spiderman” who turned out to be Manuel Lauza, 25 of barangay Bulacao, Talisay City, was wounded in the left arm and right leg after he allegedly engaged lawmen in a shootout under the flyover in barangay Tabunok.

Senior Insp. Al Pascual of the Talisay City Police Office said they were conducting a checkpoint when PO1 Banedy Solante saw Lauza and a companion carrying a game fowl.

Solante approached the two but Lauza allegedly threw the rooster at them before whipping out a .357 revolver and fired a shot.

Solante managed to take cover behind a utility pole.

PO1 Ehrol Gamboa returned fire and hit Lauza.

Despite getting wounded, Lauza managed to run and hide in the house of Provincial Board Member Julian Daan in Palmview, Sangi, Barangay Tabunok, which is about 100 meters from the flyover. Daan said the commotion roused them from sleep.

Daan, a local comedian who rose to fame with his portrayal of ‘Teban’ in the hit radio series “Manok ni San Pedro” before joining politics, told Cebu Daily News in jest that “Spiderman” might have had an amulet since his dogs did nothing when he hid in the dog house.

Police recovered the suspect’s .357 revolver with three live ammunition and two empty shells. They also found two small sachets of shabu in his pocket.

The suspect was brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) for treatment.

That same night, one Joel Paran of Mananga I in Barangay Tabunok reported to the police that Lauza allegedly snatched his rooster.

CDN went to Sotto Hospital’s Trauma Center and found the suspect cuffed to a bed. A policeman watching over Lauza prohibited this reporter from interviewing the suspect.

Police said they are closely guarding “Spiderman” to prevent him from slipping out anew.

In July, police searched the ceiling’s crawl space of the Gaisano Fiesta Mall in Tabunok, Talisay City after a saleslady saw a man’s foot break through a ceiling panel.

The man who was later identified as Lauza eluded arrest. Police found a makeshift bed, clothes, junk food and cellphones tucked in a space above the ceiling of HBC, a cosmetics shop.

Lauza got the moniker ‘Spiderman’ as he was reportedly involved in several akyat-bahay operations and is used to climbing into buildings. Yesterday, complaints of illegal possession of firearms and possession of illegal drugs were filed against Lauza./Correspondents Christine Emily L. Pantaleon and Gabriel C. Bonjoc