MANILA, Philippines - One of at least five armed suspects was arrested by an off-duty cop and was beaten up by an irate mob shortly after robbing a passenger bus yesterday in Quezon City.
Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele identified the suspect as Erwin Bolinia alias Zuma, 36, jobless, resident of A-6 Constitution 4 street Barangay Batasan, Quezon City.
Police said Bolinia and several companions were armed with short firearms and posed as passengers inside a bus traveling southbound along Commonwealth Avenue at around 8:45 a.m. yesterday.
Upon reaching Barangay Balara near Puregold Supermarket, the suspects declared a holdup and divested the passengers of their cash, cellphones and other personal belongings before alighting from the bus and fleeing on foot.
Police Officer 1 Adolfo Malillin, 31, assigned with the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) in Camp Crame, Quezon City and a passenger in the same bus, was also divested of his wallet containing cash and several identification cards and his driver’s license.
Malillin chased the suspects as soon as they jumped off the bus and later caught up with Bolinia whom he disarmed while the other suspects escaped with the loot.
Malillin seized from Bolinia a .38 caliber revolver loaded with four live rounds ammunitions.
Before the cop would take him away, angry victims and bystanders ganged up on Bolinia who suffered injuries after getting mauled.
Responding policemen from the Batasan Police Station (PS) 6 later brought the suspect to the Quezon City General Hospital for medical treatment and was subsequently charged for Violation of Presidential Decree 1866 and Robbery Holdup before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office. - By Jerry Botial
