PNP collars 3 pickpockets on Commonwealth Avenue

Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame. File photo.

MANILA, Philippines — Three pickpockets on Commonwealth Avenue were arrested by authorities, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group National Capital Region (CIDG NCR) announced.

The suspects were arrested after a 37-year-old woman reported them to the police on Monday, according to CIDG NCR chief Col. Marlon Quimno in an interview with reporters at Camp Crame on Tuesday.

The CIDG NCR chief added that the three suspects were among a group of five who frequent public utility vehicle (PUV) stops along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon Avenue and the Batasan Tunnel.

“They’d pretend to ride a bus, go near someone with a cellphone in their hand, carrying a backpack, that’s their modus,” Quimno explained in Filipino.

“Someone serves as a distraction, someone else will get the cellphone. When they get it, they’ll pass it on to the back until it reaches their other cohorts. So, there’s a lot of them,” he added.

The three arrested suspects were not from Manila but from nearby towns, according to Quimno, who did not expound on their backgrounds.

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The CIDG NCR chief said the three suspects already went through inquest proceedings before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for theft and robbery.

Quimno said they were gathering more information on the other two suspects in hopes of doing a regular filing for possible warrants of arrest against them.