Alleged teenage gang member run over on Edsa

MANILA, Philippines—A 15-year-old boy, who had been tagged as a member of a criminal youth gang preying on motorists along Edsa, died after he was run over by a speeding vehicle Monday night, according to a belated report from the Metro Manila Development Authority.

Jomari Robilla, a resident of Cembo, Makati City, was accidentally hit by a Toyota Innova driven by Kum Ju Kim, a Korean national residing in Greenhills, San Juan City.

An investigation showed that around 11 p.m. last Monday, the suspect was driving along the northbound lane of Edsa when she accidentally hit the victim, who was crossing the main thoroughfare near the Metro Rail Transit station in the Guadalupe area in Makati.

The victim was rushed to Mandaluyong Medical Center, where he died the following day.

According to the MMDA, one Kathleen Coronel, a Mandaluyong City resident, identified the victim as the one who snatched her bag the night he met the accident.

The victim was reportedly among the boys preying on taxi drivers and passengers along the Edsa-Guadalupe area.

Closed circuit television cameras of the MMDA have captured the gang while carrying out their modus operandi last month.

Members of the gang strike when vehicles are stuck in traffic, opening doors left unlocked and robbing the driver and passengers of their valuables.

The suspects then climb up the mesh-wire fences of the Metropolitan Railway Transit tracks in the middle of Edsa to elude arrest.

The gang works in groups of three to five people and usually operates during the rush hour.