Monday, April 14, 2008 Habal-habal drivers gang up on ‘robber’
A 28-year-old man was arrested after robbing a stall selling cellular phone loads in J.Y. Square, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City yesterday.
Senior Insp. Michael Bastes, Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) chief, identified the suspect as Levin Roy Fajardo of Barangay Carreta.
He yielded a knife that he reportedly used in the crime.
Bastes said he is still waiting for the stall owner to report on how much Fajardo managed to take.
Bastes and his men were on their way to Barangay Busay, which is next to Lahug, past noon when they were informed that a stall has been robbed and that the lone perpetrator was being chased by habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) drivers.
Bastes’ team found Fajardo already being mobbed by the drivers near a gasoline station along Salinas Drive.
Knife-point
After the robbery, Fajardo allegedly commandered a taxicab as getaway by holding the driver at knife-point.
He was forced to transfer to a habal-habal because of traffic at the J.Y. Square area.
In a brief interview at the TRS office inside Camp Sotero Cabahug along Gorordo Ave., Fajardo admitted to the crime but refused to answer further questions.
He said, though, that he spent some time in jail, and was released in June 2007.
Bastes said Fajardo also has two arrest warrants for robbery.
He said that aside from robbery, Fajardo might be facing another criminal complaint by the taxicab and habal-habal drivers. (JST)
