CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — Six suspects, along with their cohort who allegedly carried out a heist at a convenience store in Jaen town early Monday morning, were tracked down and arrested at their hideout in Quezon City less than 10 hours later.

Col. Heryl Bruno, Nueva Ecija police director, identified the seven arrested suspects — six males and one female — as alias Chard, alias JR, alias John, alias Lito, alias Al, alias Ray, and alias Mariel.

Initial police investigation showed that the six suspects forcibly entered the convenience store in Barangay Dampulan, Jaen, around 4:30 a.m. They carted away its money vault containing ₱82,600 in cash, an EC Pay kiosk, and grocery items worth ₱12,000 before fleeing aboard a white L300 van with license plate NKI 4600.

After receiving the report, Jaen police operatives launched hot-pursuit operations, conducting continuous GPS and CCTV tracking in coordination with the Bulacan and National Capital Region police offices. This led to the recovery of the EC Pay kiosk in a grassy portion of the southbound North Luzon Expressway in Barangay Saog, Marilao, Bulacan, at around 8:45 a.m.

By 2:10 p.m., the suspects were tracked down in their hideout at Block 12, Lot 10, Tinagba Street, Barangay Greater Lagro, Novaliches, Quezon City, resulting in their arrest.

Police recovered from the suspects the Mitsubishi L300 van with license plate NHG 9689; a vehicle license plate NKI 4600; a semi-automatic 9mm pistol loaded with bullets; a 12-gauge shotgun with serial number 630-H23PT-217 loaded with bullets; suspected shabu in plastic sachets and drug paraphernalia; a safety vault; two steel crowbars; two chisels (flat and pointed); two cellular phones; a power hack grinder; a black backpack; and assorted grocery items.

All arrested suspects were placed under the custody of the Jaen Municipal Police Station and are facing charges of robbery and violations of Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

📷 Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office