QUEZON CITY, Philippines Two men walked into Station 10 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Tuesday night to clear their names in a robbery complaint. But they didn't expect that the complainant would be there to identify them. Cops immediately jailed them..
The complainant, 48-year-old Febes Malaya pointed to the men as the motorcycle-riding pair that snatched her bag containing two mobile phones last Monday in Barangay South Triangle.
Police Officer 2 Enrique Camuyo identified the suspects as Michael Sato, 29, of Barangay Holy Spirit, and Melvin Ranoso, 30, of Barangay Payatas.
When Malaya reported the incident to the police, she was able to give them the plate number of blue Honda motorcycle used by the robbers.
Investigators were able trace the owner of motorcycle as Sato.
On Tuesday afternoon, cops went to Sato's house on Sta. Catalina Street in Barangay Holy Spirit to interrogate him, but only his relatives were around at that time.
After learning later in the evening that lawmen had visited his place to ask about the holdup incident, Sato, accompanied by Ranoso, decided to go to Station 10 at about 8 p.m. to clear his name.
It didn't work out as he had hoped, because the victim was also there.
The police are looking into the possibility that the two were also responsible for seven other robberies where the a blue motorcycle was reportedly seen being used.
Sato admitted owning the motorcycle, but denied being part of the robbery.
Sato, who works as a waiter, said that two of his neighbors whose names he gave to the cops used to borrow his motorcycle from him.
Sato said both men have criminal records for snatching.
Camuyo also said they are still determining if the two were also involved in the snatching last month of valuables belonging to a QCPD official.
The arrested men had already been subjected to an inquest on Wednesday and would face robbery charges. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV