A motorcycle-riding robber ended up in jail with swollen face after a 16-year-old girl they victimized chased him and his cohort to recover her smartphone in Quezon City on Sunday night.
Members of Quezon City Police District’s Talipapa Police Station (PS-3) arrested the suspect identified as Armando Bautista, 32, a resident of Caloocan City.
PS-3 station commander, Police Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Gabriel, said Bautista’s cohort, identified as Enrique Verano, alyas “Tonying,” is now the subject of a manhunt.
According to the victim, she was reading a story on Wattpad using her mobile phone in front of a motorcycle shop on Quirino Highway at around 8 p.m. when Bautista snatched her gadget.
The suspect then ran towards his companion who was on board their getaway motorbike.
Instead of shouting for help, the Grade 10 student chased down the suspects and pulled Bautista who was riding at the back of the vehicle, causing the duo to fall.
The minor victim said she stayed away from the suspects for a moment to make sure that they do not have any weapon.
When the victim found out that the two men were not armed, she pulled again the clothes of Bautista and shouted for help from bystanders in the area while the other suspect escaped.
Bautista was cornered by the concerned citizens after a brief chase and was mauled before turning him in to barangay officers and the police.
Authorities recovered the stolen phone but it was already broken due to the commotion.
The victim told investigators that she really wanted to get her phone back as she saved money from her school allowance to buy it.
The arrested suspect, meanwhile, said that he snatched the phone out of poverty.
Bautista is now under the custody of PS-3 and will be charged with robbery. (Alexandria San Juan)
