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Thursday, July 10, 2003
Robbery suspect slain in shootout
By Rene H. Martel and Allan I. Varquez
CEBU -- A suspected robber died hours after he and a companion held up a phone shop and lotto outlet along Gorordo Ave., Cebu City Wednesday afternoon and led police into a running gunbattle.
A technician of the shop, located less than 100 meters from the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), was also shot in the leg when the suspect, who later died, fired at a police team.
It took the two men less than 20 minutes to enter the unguarded store at 1:45 p.m. and strip it of its sales, three mobile phones and several cell cards, even though there were five persons inside.
At gunpoint, they ordered four male workers to sit in the corner and the female employee to open the display cases where the phones were kept, as well as the drawer that held the lotto sales.
Not having a getaway vehicle, the two then boarded a Talamban-bound jeepney.
But before the jeepney could leave, a policeman from Catmon happened to pass by and fired a warning shot, after bystanders told him about the two armed men inside the jeepney.
The two got off and scampered in different directions. Most of the loot ended up with the dead man’s companion, who escaped in a taxi.
An employee of Mabuhay International Travel and Tours also identified the slain man as one of two pistol-packing robbers who victimized them last June 30.
Hours before he died, the man identified himself to homicide policemen as Dirk del Socorro of Barangay Taug, Carcar town, and gave the name of his contact person.
Shocked worker
Policemen caught up with del Socorro near the Ayala jeepney terminal and traded gunshots with him.
Injured in the right leg during the shootout was Michael Cañeda, 29, of 12-D Balaga Drive, A. Lopez St., Barangay Calamba, Cebu City.
Cañeda, the phone shop’s technician, led the police in pursuing del Socorro.
He told homicide police chief investigator Mario Monilar that at 1:45 p.m., two men suddenly barged inside the shop, pointed .45 pistols at them, and declared a hold-up.
They then took his jewelry, three phones and the cash from the lotto counter before rushing out to ride a jeepney.
Cañeda, despite the initial shock, went out of the shop and sought the help of Catmon town policemen who happened to pass by onboard their vehicle.
A co-worker also ran towards the CCPO headquarters and alerted the policemen, who immediately set out to help.
Warning shots
Meanwhile, Cañeda, with Catmon police PO2 Edward Molina and PO1 Allan Menchavez, drove after the robbers and stopped a few meters ahead of the jeepney the two were riding, near the Asilo de la Milagrosa church.
“Cañeda pointed out the suspect aboard the jeepney. The man got off and cocked his gun before running away,” said bank messenger Jose Bermejo, who witnessed the incident from a few meters away.
The man, who was later identified as del Socorro, ran back towards the establishment he robbed, despite warning shots from the two policemen, and turned left on Negros St. towards Cebu Business Park.
He then stopped, boarded a parked jeepney and acted as if he did not know what was going on.
Cañeda, however, saw him and pointed at him, causing del Socorro to shoot him in the leg.
Responding Cebu City policemen—SPO1 Alfredo Petallar, PO3 Filomeno Mendaros and PO1 Frede-rick Ybañez—later shot the suspect several times in the leg and body. A bullet even grazed the back of his head.
Del Socorro was rushed to Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), where he died at 6:40 p.m., or less than five hours after arriving at 2:08 p.m.
Unidentified
Cañeda, meanwhile, was brought to Perpetual Succour Hospital, where he had his wound treated.
Police have yet to identify and arrest del Socorro’s companion, who managed to ride a taxi with most of the loot with him.
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) policemen, however, recovered two phones, 20 Smart cell cards (P300 each), a .45 pistol with an empty magazine and a hand grenade from del Soccoro.
SPO1 Jun Pastorfide of homicide police said he got very little information from del Socorro before his death because the man refused to comment.
“Unya na lang kuno, sir (We’ll talk later, sir),” he quoted del Socorro, who probably thought he would survive his wounds, as saying.
SPO4 Bong Hermosa of the Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) also escorted a certain Anna, an employee of Mabuhay International Travel and Tours, to CCMC to see del Socorro.
Anna identified him as one of two men who held them up and took a cell phone and P5,000 from the agency’s owner last June 30. Sun.Star Cebu
(July 10, 2003 issue)
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