‘Prince’ nabbed for robbing gas station

LOCAL police in Toledo City arrested a “Prince” who was allegedly involved in a dawn robbery of a roadside gas station in Barangay Poblacion on Friday, June 1, 2022.The “prince” in question was identified as Prince Queenry Labapis Yu, 18, a trisikad driver living in same barangay.Staff Sgt. Alfredo de Gracia Jr., an investigator for the Toledo City Police Station, told SunStar Cebu that they initially received a call for help from Niña Marie Basalo, the branch manager of the Platinum Gas Station situated in Poblacion, at around 12:30 a.m.Basalo claimed that according to their cashier, Yu reportedly approached their establishment carrying a bottle and had asked them if he could buy gasoline.But as the station’s cashier was about to entertain Yu, the trisikad driver suddenly pulled out a knife and pointed it at the cashier’s neck, immediately declaring a hold-up.Yu was able to get the gas station’s earnings worth P4,500 before fleeing from the scene.Unfortunately for Yu, several witnesses spotted him escaping from the gas station after committing the crime and were able to report what they saw to the police.Yu eventually was arrested a few hours after he committed the crime. The cashier positively identified Yu after police presented him at the station.But police only recovered around P4,200 of the P4,500 that Yu stole from the gas station. Yu admitted to police that he had spent the P300 to appease his hunger.In an interview, Yu admitted he was forced to commit the crime as he couldn’t find any other job after his trisikad badly needed repairs.But De Gracia said that this was not the first time that Yu was arrested.As a minor, Yu was arrested several times due to theft but was not charged formally due to his age at that time. / GPL / JKV