Suspect in viral San Juan street robbery video nabbed
By Benjamin Pulta
Police arrested a robbery suspect, whose video made the rounds of social media last year showing him and an accomplice alighting from a car to rob a pedestrian in San Juan City.
In a report, the Eastern Police District (EPD) said an operation by the San Juan City Police’s District Intelligence (DI) and Special Operations Unit (DSOU) netted Billy Joe Schofield, 39, in Sitio Kapatiran, Barangay San Isidro, Antipolo City on Thursday.
Security video footage showed Schofield and Marcelo Oñate Jr., 42, also known as Badoy, getting off a grey Toyota Vios and then sticking up Albert Hendrick Tan on Aug. 7, 2017.
Last Jan. 17, San Juan policemen nabbed Oñate along E. Rodriguez Ave., Pasig City.
The operation against Schofield, led by Senior Insp. Jerry Boy Napagal, was assisted by a citizen’s tip that allowed the service of a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Caesar Buenagua.
The EPD said Schofield was a member of the Sako Gang, led by Benedict Crisologo, operating along Aurora Blvd. The crime group disbanded after Crisologo was killed by one of his members in 2004.
Schofield was jailed in 2006 for robbery and was detained at the Manila City Jail, but his case was dismissed after two years. In 2008, he was transferred to the San Juan City Jail to serve his sentence for a frustrated homicide case he committed in 2005.
After serving his sentence for eight years, he was freed in 2016.
Less than a year later, Schofield joined the Oñate’s robbery group, which was responsible for the spate of heists in San Juan City. (PNA)
