17-year-old stabbed dead, robbed of cell phone by man aboard jeep in Manila

Warning to commuters: Never bring out your cell phone in public places.

A first year Hotel and Restaurant Management student of University of Manila died after being repeatedly stabbed on Tuesday morning by a holdup man while on board a jeepney in Quiapo, Manila.

Renzo Rei Bodoy, 17, died after Richard Pring, 32, allegedly stabbed and robbed him of his cell phone while on his way to school.

On Wednesday, Pring was presented to Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada after the Manila Police District operatives apprehended him in his residence at Grace Park, Caloocan city on Tuesday evening.

Police detective Jonathan Bautista, the case investigator, said that at around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, Bodoy was on board a Quiapo-bound jeepney when the suspect, Pring, posing as passenger, boarded the same vehicle at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

While traveling on the Quezon Bridge, Pring, armed with a bladed weapon, allegedly grabbed the victim’s bag and cell phone, but Bodoy resisted prompting the suspect to stab him on the left portion of his chest, Bautista said.

Sensing imminent danger, Bodoy jumped out of the jeepney but Pring allegedly followed him and repeatedly stabbed him in different parts of his body, and fled afterwards.

Bodoy was immediately brought to the hospital but died there.

According to a witness, the jeepney was loaded with passengers, but Pring, who sat in front of Bodoy, noticed him checking his cell phone, and in a minute, attacked the victim.

In an interview, Pring, member of the Batang City Jail, said he was under the influence of alcohol and was badly in need of money.

Pring faces robbery with homicide charges, according to Bautista.

Chief Inspector Alexander Rodrigo, chief of the Manila Police District’s Homicide, Theft and Robbery section, said commuters should refrain from checking their cell phones on board passenger vehicles so as not to draw the attention of criminals. Jodee A. Agoncillo