Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Group arrests 2 men linked to robberies using motorcycle
THE Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Task Force Motorcycle recorded its first accomplishment when two suspected robbers were arrested in an operation along Kabangahan Road, Barangay Pit-os, Cebu City over the weekend.
Police arrested Rico V. Mongos, 38, and Aldwin P. Balaba, 32, both residents of Consolacion, Cebu. They were allegedly in possession of two caliber .22 Magnum revolvers during their arrest.
Mongos and Balaba were arrested at 9:10 a.m., Sunday after the Talamban Police Office led by Senior Insp. Fructuoso Lim received a call for assistance about an armed person alarm.
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador told reporters yesterday that it turned out that Mongos and Balaba have been the subject of monitoring by the police in the town of Consolacion and in the neighboring Metro Cebu areas for allegedly robbing people using a motorcycle as getaway vehicle.
He said the arrest of the two suspected motorcycle-riding robbers was the first after the city police force formally launched last Friday Task Force Motorcycle.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos decided to create the task force early this month after a Camp Crame report identified Central Visayas as having the most number of crimes with motorcycles used as getaway vehicles.
Comendador said that since police launched its intensified campaign against motorcycle-riding criminals, statistics related to it has dropped by more than 50 percent.
He said that from Oct. 1 to 19, only seven cases were recorded compared to that of last month, which registered a total of 21 incidents.
He hopes that the downtrend in crimes where motorcycles are used will continue to drop as police pledge to sustain its checkpoints and patrolling in the different parts of the city. (JTG)
