GRIN AND BEAR ‘BATO’Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa tells robbery suspect Ronnie Espinosa to show his teeth—to check if he’s into drugs. Espinosa and alleged accomplice Arjel Lagandora (standing beside him) were presented to the PNP chief at Camp Bagong Diwa on Friday. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) arrested two suspects in the robbery and shooting of the 24-year-old son of a TV journalist last week, the same duo believed to be behind earlier holdup incidents victimizing commuters in the Edsa-Quezon Avenue area.
In operations on Wednesday afternoon and past midnight Friday, the QCPD tracked down Ronnie Espinosa and Arjel Lagandora, who now face charges in connection with the attack on Jan Dexter Rafiel Concepcion on the night of Aug. 8.
Concepcion, an information technology specialist and son of ABS-CBN journalist Quinnie Casimiro, was shot in the chest after he refused to give his mobile phone to two robbers who approached him around 8:30 p.m. in front of a condo building on Edsa’s northbound lane in Barangay Bagong Pag-Asa.
The victim remains under intensive care in a hospital.
The shooting and the suspects’ getaway were witnessed by a scavenger, who later positively identified Espinosa and Lagandora as the robbers, according to Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, the QCPD director.
Eleazar said Concepcion, through his mother, also gave “80-percent” confirmation that the two men were his attackers.
The two suspects had also confessed during questioning that they robbed and shot Concepcion, he said.
The two men, who both hail from Montalban, Rizal province, were also believed to be behind earlier robberies in the area, after the QCPD received a tip that they were planning another holdup on Quezon Avenue prior to their arrest.
A QCPD team spotted the duo on a motorbike passing through the major thoroughfare Wednesday afternoon, Eleazar said. Espinosa was arrested on-site after they tried to rob another commuter, but Lagandora managed to run away and abandoned the black motorcycle (8340-NM) that they used to look for targets, the official added.
In a follow-up operation past midnight on Friday, Lagandora was captured after a chase through the inner streets of San Roque, Bagong Pag-asa.
Eleazar said Lagandora yielded a hand grenade when frisked.
The QCPD director later presented them to the Philippine National Police chief, Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
Facing Dela Rosa, Lagandora admitted that he was the one who shot Concepcion but said they were just in need of money.
The two suspects claimed that they have another partner, a certain “Wawan,” who is now hiding in the Congressional Avenue area in Quezon City and still keeping the victim’s phone and the handgun used in the robbery.
When asked by Dela Rosa if he’s a drug user, Espinosa initially said no but later admitted smoking marijuana after the PNP chief told him to open his mouth.
“Your teeth are deteriorating because of your dependence on illegal drugs,” Dela Rosa told Espinosa, adding that his 30 years in the service had taught him to recognize such tell-tale signs of addiction. TVJ