Alert passengers, cops save 3 from bus pickpockets

Four men had been arrested after being caught red-handed stealing the valuables of passengers inside a crowded bus in Cubao, Quezon City.

Charged with theft in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office following their arrest on Thursday morning at an intersection in Cubao were John Rich Sarmiento, 20; Jeffrey Borbon, 25; Arsenio Dapit, 34; and Joseph Matira, 41, all residents of Barangay Batasan Hills.

“This only goes to show that the additional deployment in the Cubao area has positive results on our anticriminality campaign,” said Quezon City Police District director Chief Supt. Richard Albano.

The incident happened at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday inside a Jayross Lucky Seven bus at the intersection of Edsa and P. Tuazon Boulevard.

Cubao police station commander Supt. Ramon Pranada said that bus passengers were waiting for the traffic light to turn green when some of them noticed four men picking the pockets of three passengers.

Other people alerted the three victims, leading to a commotion inside the bus which caught the attention of a group of policemen led by SPO3 Arsenio Caraveo who were on patrol.

They quickly boarded the bus and arrested the pickpockets. Recovered from the four men were the cell phones and other valuables of the victims.