Man nabbed for ‘basag-kotse’

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – A man was arrested after he allegedly damaged and robbed a pick-up truck parked at Barangay Sum-ag here early Wednesday.

Police identified the suspect as Jay-r Alayon, 28, of the said village.

Police Lieutenant Jonito Pastrana, head of Police Station 9, said Alayon was allegedly caught by a village watchman breaking the left window of a maroon Isuzu DMax using a steel pipe around 5:45 a.m.

Pastrana said the suspect reportedly took a bag containing a cellular phone worth P10,000, driver’s license, a watch, and P7,000 cash owned by a tenant in a nearby establishment.

The vehicle is a company car.

Pastrana said that robbery charges will be filed today, April 30, 2020 against the suspect who is detained at the said police station.

He said Alayon refused to tell his reason for committing the crime.

He believed that poverty caused by the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) here due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic did not trigger the suspect to do it.

“He (suspect) just saw an opportunity to strike,” the station commander said.

According to Police Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, public information officer of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), this is the first “basag-kotse” incident recorded this year and during the ECQ here.