Cops catch 1 of 2 Cubao footbridge robbers

The police arrested one of two men who robbed, stabbed and wounded a visual artist in a follow-up operation on Tuesday.

Chief Supt. Richard Albano, Quezon City Police District director, on Thursday identified the robbery suspect as Edgar Villamil or “Buding,” 35, single and a resident of Annapolis Street in Barangay E. Rodriguez, Cubao. His accomplice, Benjo Martinez, has yet to be caught.

Based on a police report, the victim, Giovano Acero, was walking on a footbridge on Aurora Boulevard, Cubao, around midnight on Monday when the robbers accosted him.

When Acero refused to give up his valuables, one of them stabbed him in the back, leaving him with a shallow wound. The pair then fled with his cell phone, P10,000 in cash and a camera worth P180,000.

Acero reported the incident to the Cubao police station where lawmen showed him photos of robbery suspects. He managed to identify the men who held him up, prompting Insp. John Wayne Versoza to conduct a follow-up operation that resulted in Villamil’s arrest near his house.

The police failed to recover the victim’s valuables and found only a sachet of shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride in the suspect’s possession.