By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

One of four suspects involved in last Tuesday’s robbery in Bacolod City’s Barangay Villamonte was arrested during a follow-up operation conducted by Police Station 4 (PS4). Police identified the arrested suspect as 23-year-old Cyrus Canlas, a resident of Purok Cereza in the city’s Barangay 3.
PS4 station commander, Police Lieutenant Rondyl Tapang, said Canlas was positively identified by the owner of the Toyota Innova, which was rented by the suspects.
When questioned by police Canlas was unable to identify his three accomplices, claiming he was just released from a three-month prison sentence for illegal drugs.
Canlas is presently detained at PS4 and faces robbery hold-up charges.
Earlier, 24-year-old Aaron Muñon and 20-year-old Kane Irish Dominguez were victimized by Canlas and four others at Gate #1 of the Villa Angela Subdivision in Bacolod City’s Barangay Villamonte.
The victims reported the incident to police, who immediately sent an alert to other units in the city.
About an hour after the incident, around 4:00 a.m., a police patrol spotted the white Toyota Innova near a department store along Burgos Extension. However, as police approached, the driver of the vehicle accelerated and proceeded westward, prompting a chase.
The occupants of the vehicle later bailed at a grassy area along Bag-ong Dalan Road in the city’s Barangay 35 with cops eventually losing sight of the suspects.
Police later recovered some of the victims’ items, along with an empty plastic magazine belonging to a pellet gun./DGB, WDJ