MPD men shoot rob suspect dead; cabbie helps them locate another
A robbery suspect was shot dead early Saturday by the Manila police while his two wounded cohorts were arrested, one of them captured with the help of a taxi driver.
The Manila Police District (MPD) said a patrol team from its anticar theft unit (Ancar) exchanged fire with the group of Michael de Guzman, 27; McDavies Collado, 31, and Ogie Ramos, 22, after the trio tried to steal a motorcycle at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Taft Avenue around 2 a.m.
The MPD said the group was also tagged in one of the nine previous robbery cases victimizing motorcycle users in that part of the city.
De Guzman died on the spot after being hit in the head and stomach, while Collado was brought by the arresting officers to Ospital ng Maynila for gunshot wounds in the shoulder.
Ramos managed to flee the site of the encounter but was later tracked down by the authorities at Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City. This was after the driver of the cab he hailed in Manila went to the police and revealed his location.
When finally arrested, Ramos was transferred to Philippine General Hospital.
MPD-Ancar Chief Senior Insp. Rommel Geneblazo said his team was conducting “police visibility operations” in the area, which last month saw a series of robbery-holdup incidents targeting motorcycle users.
“Luckily, we caught the suspects in the act of stealing a motorcycle near our location,” Geneblazo told the Inquirer.
The latest target, Nikko Mendoza, said he was on his way home to San Andres from Pasay City on his Yamaha Mio when two men on another motorcycle—who turned out to be Collado and De Guzman—approached from his right, with De Guzman pointing a gun at him.
“They asked me to stop, but instead I increased my speed and shouted for help,” Mendoza said in a statement to the MPD. As he spotted a village watchman (barangay tanod) on Taft Avenue, he jumped off his bike and threw the keys to the side of the road.
De Guzman got off their bike, hurriedly picked up Mendoza’s keys and seized the abandoned motorcycle. Ramos, who was positioned in the area all along and waiting for his cohorts to set a trap for the victim, started walking toward De Guzman.
It was at this point that the MPD team spotted the suspects and moved in for the arrest, Geneblazo said. De Guzman and one of his cohorts fired shots at the approaching policemen, forcing the latter to shoot back.
Some of the officers sustained bruises on their arms and legs when they hit the pavement for cover, Geneblazo noted.
Investigators later recovered two pistols—a 9-mm and a .38-caliber—from the suspects, as well as two handbags containing gadgets and assorted jewelry, items apparently stolen from other victims.
“Just last week, about nine people reported that their motorcycles were taken by a group of men who also prowled Quirino Avenue on a motorbike and matched the description of the suspects,” Geneblazo noted.
Another victim, Tisay Reyes of Sampaloc, saw photos of the suspects at the MPD headquarters Saturday afternoon and positively identified them as the men who took her motorbike, cash and jewelry on March 6 on Quirino Avenue.
“I will never forget their faces because they identified themselves as policemen when they stopped my motorcycle,” she said.
Geneblazo said more robbery victims had been invited to the MPD headquarters.
“We have received information that these men have three or more accomplices who are still at large,” the Ancar chief added.
