Tarlac Pawnshop Break-in Foiled by Citizen Alarm, 8 Arrested

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga — A concerned citizen’s report of a triggered security alarm led to the arrest of eight suspected robbers who allegedly attempted to break into a pawnshop in Santa Ignacia town, Tarlac, on Friday, Sept. 4. In a statement Saturday, the Tarlac Police Provincial Office (TPPO) said the suspects attempted to burglarize the ML Lhuillier pawnshop along Romulo Highway in Barangay Poblacion West at around 10:30 a.m. The TPPO Tactical Operations Center received a 911 call reporting the activation of the establishment’s alarm system. Responding police officers discovered a small hole in the floor near the roll-up door, which was believed to have been made by the suspects to gain entry. According to police, the suspects used the drainage canal along Romulo Highway as a passageway and used tools to create an opening. Police launched a hot pursuit operation and arrested five men who were allegedly fleeing through the same drainage canal in Barangay Poblacion West. Seized from the five suspects were an improvised firearm, two hand grenades, a pressure jack, a hacksaw, two crowbars, a metal chisel and five sachets of suspected shabu (crystal meth). Police said the suspects later disclosed the identities of three other companions who were waiting along Romulo Highway in Barangay Poblacion East aboard an Elf truck. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the three other suspects. Police recovered the Elf truck, a hand grenade, three sachets of suspected shabu and a rifle grenade. TPPO director Col. Harry Lorenzo III credited the swift police response with preventing the suspected robbery and commended the citizen who reported the alarm activation.