CCTV gives five robbers away

MANILA, Philippines—Five men blamed for a string of robberies in Metro Manila were arrested this week after they were caught on camera during a recent job at an Internet shop in Quezon City.

Police said the suspects, believed to be members of the “Sagasa  Gang,” failed to notice four closed-circuit television cameras  inside the shop when they robbed the establishment last Saturday night.

Quezon City police  director Chief Superintendent George Regis said robbers usually avoid establishments with  CCTV cameras and security guards to evade identification and arrest.

“That’s where they made their mistake,” he said at a press conference at Camp Karingal on Friday.

Regis identified the suspects as Jimmy Concordia, 32, Ryan Dellota, 22, Ruben Dante Jr., 28, Arsenio Gelarce, 18, and Marlon de Guzman, 27.

Apart from the CCTV footage, the five suspects were also positively identified by the cashier and  student  customers inside the shop during last Saturday’s robbery at the Jetz Internet café on Aurora Boulevard in Barangay Marilag.

Regis said he believed the group is led by a former Manila policeman. He said the group got its name from their modus operandi of robbing persons along C-5 Road while riding tandem on motorcycles.

They have been blamed for robberies at the  LBC Anonas branch, Pizza Hut in Libis, Tri-Color Photoshop on Aurora Boulevard, Lying-In Clinic in Tatalon, and a Lugawan and Bulaluhan in Marikina City.

Their arrest “should be a strong reason why shops and stores should install CCTV cameras,” Regis said.

The five suspects were rounded up during a series of follow-up operations on Wednesday and Thursday in Quezon City and Makati City.

Concordia, Dellota, Dante and Galarce were caught on their motorcycles at 9 p.m. Wednesday  at the corner of  Batino and Narra Streets. De Guzman, who was waiting for his share of the loot, was arrested at around 3:30 a.m. Thursday on Blueboz Street  in Makati City after his companions squealed on him, police said.

Seized from them were two motorcycles and three .38-caliber revolvers and three bladed weapons.

Superintendent Virgilio Fabian, Project 4 station commander, said they also found on the suspects four mobile phones and assorted credit and ATM cards, also believed to have been stolen.

A tipster told investigators that he recognized the suspects who had allegedly been going to the house of a former policeman, a certain Rey Galang, in Barangay Amihan, Fabian added.

In a report to Regis, Fabian said Galang was the leader of the group.