TWO of the three suspects in the robbery of an electronic bingo outlet in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City last month were arrested in another bingo outlet last Tuesday afternoon.
The guard who was previously assigned at the Bingo Boutique in Insular Square in Barangay Basak, which was robbed last May 19, was the one who recognized suspects Marly Jeo Saragena, 38; and Vincent Pinote, 36, at their branch in Parkmall, also in Mandaue.
Officials of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) had been looking for Saragena and Pinote, who both hail from Barangay Bulasa, Argao, after the arrest of their alleged cohort, Roy Deiparine, 12 hours after the heist in Basak.
The police identified the three as those who allegedly carted away P68,000 from the Insular Square branch last month.
Police Insp. Zenaido Sanchez of the Mandaue City Police Office’s (MCPO) Theft and Robbery Section said they received a call from the guard of the Bingo Boutique outlet in Parkmall that the two other suspects were seen inside the premises.
“The suspects appeared to be doing surveillance at the Parkmall bingo outlet,” Sanchez.
Authorities believe that the two were in the Parkmall branch possibly to hatch a plan to rob the bingo outlet.
Jerson Palermo, the security guard on-duty, spotted the suspects inside the bingo boutique.
Palermo was also the guard who was assigned in the bingo outlet in Basak when the three suspects robbed the establishment.
He was assigned in Parkmall after the incident last May 19 for his safety, said Sanchez.
Sanchez and his team, along with members of the Special Weapons and Tactics, arrested Saragena and Pinote.
A .45 revolver with six live ammunitions and four sachets of suspected shabu were confiscated from Pinote.
The police also recovered a .38 revolver with two live ammunitions and four sachets of illegal drugs from Saragena.
Sanchez said the suspects did not resist arrest.
Saragena and Pinote did not answer when asked if they were the culprits in the robbery of the bingo outlet in Basak.
The suspects were detained at the Mandaue Police Station 2 while the police prepare to file complaints against them.