By ALEXANDRIA SAN JUAN
Two motorcycle-riding men were killed in an encounter with policemen shortly after they allegedly robbed a restaurant in Quezon City, Wednesday night.
Chief Superintendent Joselito Esquivel Jr., Quezon City Police District director, said they have yet to identify the slain suspects who were in their late 20s and 30s, both wearing black jackets, black shirts, pants, and bonnet.
Police said that the two men were involved in a robbery incident in a restaurant on Scout Tobias, Barangay Laging Handa.
According to one of the restaurant’s service crew, the establishment was about to close at about 8:25 p.m. when the suspects arrived on board a black motorcycle without plate number, pulled out their handguns and declared the heist.
The men took a mobile phone and undetermined amount of cash inside the store before fleeing the scene.
The employee immediately reported the incident to the nearby QCPD Kamuning Police Station (PS-10) which relayed the information to its units.
Officers conducting “Oplan Sita” on Roces Avenue near Gate 1 of Amoranto Stadium in Barangay Paligsahan spotted and flagged down the two motorcycle-riding men who matched the descriptions provided by the complainant.
However, instead of stopping at the checkpoint, the duo sped off towards Tomas Morato Street.
Operatives chased the suspects who alighted beside Amoranto Stadium and fired shots at their pursuers, prompting policemen to retaliate.
The gunfight resulted in the death of the two suspects.
Authorities recovered from the suspects two .38-caliber revolvers, mobile phone and cash stolen from the victims.
Meanwhile, investigators are verifying if the slain suspects were also involved in robbery incidents in Quezon City last June 1.
On the first incident, the motorcycle-riding suspects forcibly took at gunpoint a brown handbag owned by a 44-year-old female accountant at the corner of F. Manalo Street and Judge Jimenez Streets in Barangay Pinagkaisahan around 12:25 p.m.
Two high-end mobile phones worth P35,000, and some credit cards were inside the bag of the victim who was about to attend a school activity with her family.
Seven hours later, four men on two motorcycles, entered a Japanese restaurant at the corner of Scout Tobias and Scaout Lazcano in Barangay Laging Handa.
Suspects declared the heist and took, at gunpoint, the customers’ belongings, mobile phones, and cash worth more than P80,000.
