Six robbers who stole a vault and a self-service payment machine from a convenience store in Nueva Ecija were arrested in Novaliches, Quezon City after police tracked them down using modern technology, including CCTV footage analysis of their escape routes, according to Philippine National Police acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr.
Based on the report, six armed men got off an L300 van at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 12 and barged into the Alfamart convenience store in Barangay Dampulan in the municipality of Jaen.
Police said the suspects forced their way into the store by breaking the roll-up door.
The gunmen then carted away the store’s vault containing more or less P82, 600.00, which was the amount of three-day sales, assorted grocery items worth P12,000 and even the EC Pay Kiosk.
During the pursuit, police recovered the EC Pay kiosk in a grassy portion of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Southbound in Marilao, Bulacan at 8:45 a.m.
The suspects were later arrested in Barangay Greater Lagro in Novaliches at around 2 p.m. on the same day. All of the alleged robbers were arrested along with a live-in partner of one of the suspects.
Recovered from the suspects were the stolen cash and items, as well as a shotgun and a 9mm pistol.
Nartatez lauded the Nueva Ecija and Quezon City police for working together to solve the case.
“This successful operation is another proof of the evolution of your PNP into a professional and a reliable police force fully capable of quick response and decisive action as part of our mandate and commitment to serve and protect the Filipino people,” said Nartatez.
“We have a lot of good stories to tell about similar police actions and other police good deeds, and this is one of them,” he added.
All the arrested suspects were taken to the Jaen Municipal Station where they are detained pending the filing of criminal charges against them. (Aaron Recuenco, Liezle Basa Iñigo)
