FILE PHOTO
He drove by, shot the robber dead, and went on his way.
This was how Shirley Mirapes described to the police her brief but unforgettable encounter with an unidentified man who came to her rescue and killed the robber who tried to take her bag inside a passenger jeepney Friday night in Quezon City.
The shooter, after putting one bullet through the snatcher’s chest, got back on his motorbike and sped off without much ado, according to Mirapes, 30.
The man simply told her, “wait here, there will be cops arriving soon,” said PO3 Marlon de Vega of the Quezon City Police District, the investigator who took the woman’s statement.
The slain snatcher was later identified as Manuelito Hitungo, 28, a resident of Barangay Bagbag, Novaliches.
Mirapes, a resident of Caloocan City, was in the front seat of a jeepney plying Quirino Highway in Barangay Talipapa around 7:15 p.m. when Hitungo got in, sat next to her and suddenly grabbed her shoulder bag. She refused to let go.
Seeing the commotion, a man with a handgun suddenly approached the jeepney and tried to take hold of Hitungo to prevent him from fleeing.
When Hitungo reached into his waistband and appeared to be drawing a weapon, the man shot him once in the chest, De Vega said. The robber died on the spot.
Without saying much, the unidentified man then left the scene on his motorcycle, the officer said, quoting Mirapes.
It turned out that Hitungo was not carrying any weapon, he added.
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