Gotcha: Cellphone locator leads to arrest of 5 robbers in QC

NCRPO director Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar and QCPD director Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel interrogate the suspects of a robbery in Barangay Lourdes, Quezon City.  INQUIRER.net photo / Gabriel Pabico Lalu

Suspects who previously held up several customers of a car wash shop in Quezon City were arrested after elements of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) were able to track them down using the cellphone locator of one of the victims.

During a press briefing at QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal on Thursday, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar and QCPD director Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel presented the suspects, who robbed five individuals inside the Best Choice Car Wash in Barangay Lourdes on Banawe Street.

According to an initial investigation by the QCPD’s Crime Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), closed circuit television (CCTV) footage revealed that men aboard motorcycles were scouting the area minutes before the incident on Wednesday night.

The suspects then entered the shop with their helmets still on before pulling out their guns and at gunpoint took the customers’ personal belongings such as cellphones, wallets, expensive bags and watches.

A Manila policeman who was also a customer of the car wash shop was also seen in the CCTV video trying to respond to the incident, exchanging fire with one of the suspects who eventually fled away from the scene.

However, shortly after the incident, one of the victims sought help from QCPD-CIDU, after the cellphone locator of his stolen smartphone was still active, pinpointing the location of the suspects.

CIDU operatives launched a hot pursuit operation with the help of the La Loma Police Station, which resulted in the arrest of five suspects in front of SM San Lazaro in Manila.

The arrested suspects were identified as Jeffrey Flores, 34 years old; Mark Anthony Labarinto, both from Barangay 210, Manila; Danju San Diego, 20 years old, from Barangay 216, Manila; Ting Jocson, 22 years old, from Barangay 211, Manila; and James Karl Vecina, 22 years old, from Barangay Lambakin, Marilao, Bulacan.

One Louis Vuitton bag containing various cellphones, a hand grenade, and a loaded .45 caliber pistol were seized from Flores, while .38 caliber revolvers with live ammunition were recovered from Vecina, Jocson and San Diego.

Other items such as three motorcycles, four motorcycle helmets, one black bonnet, and other belongings of other victims like identification cards were recovered during a follow-up operation in the group’s hideout at Barangay 378, Manila.

The group is also being implicated in various crimes committed in Caloocan City, Manila, and Quezon City, specifically the robbery of the Izakaya Restaurant on Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

The suspects are now under the custody of the CIDU, while a follow-up operation is being conducted against two other members of the group who remain at large.

Charges for robbery, frustrated murder, violation of R.A. 10591 (Illegal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition) and R.A. 9516 (Unlawful Possession of Explosive) are set to be filed before the city prosecutor’s office.  /jpv/ac