P1.1-M Pototan robbery suspect nabbed
One of the suspects in the P1.-1 million robbery in Pototan town Friday afternoon has been arrested, police said.
But Pototan Police Station chief, Insp. Charlie Sustento, withheld the suspect’s name as they are still conducting a follow-up operation on his companion.
Sustento said the suspect, who was arrested Saturday afternoon, was positively identified by a witness as one of the two persons who robbed Reynaldo Naerga, 37, of Brgy. Naslo, Pototan.
Naerga, branch manager M. Lhuiller at R.Y. Ladrido St., Pototan, withdrew P1.1 million from Allied Bank at Guanco St., about 200 meters from the pawnshop.
The victim boarded a pedicab while carrying the cash inside a backpack.
Some 10 meters from the pawnshop, two armed men on board a black motorcycle waylaid him.
Both suspects were wearing jackets – one of them was wearing a crash helmet while the other was covering his face with a piece of cloth.
At gunpoint, the suspects declared hold-up and took the victim’s backpack.
However, doubts about the robbery surfaced after the police received information that Naerga was seen with one of the suspects about two weeks ago.
Sustento said the witness even claimed to have seen Naerga going to the suspect’s house.
It was also pointed out that Naerga violated the company’s protocol of asking a security personnel to accompany him if he will withdraw more than P200,000.
Sustento said the police is looking at the possibility that the robbery incident was staged.*
