4 suspects in QC guard beheading charged with homicide, robbery, carnapping — police

Authorities on Thursday filed multiple criminal complaints against the suspects in the beheading of a security guard inside a car dealership in Quezon City on Christmas Eve.

“Na-file na po natin kaso (We already filed the charges): robbery with homicide and carnapping,” Quezon City Police District (QCPD) – Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief P/Major Don Llapitan told GMA News Online.

The complaints were filed against four suspects that include Joemar Ragos, Michael Caballero, and two John Does.

Earlier, police identified Ragos and Caballero as co-workers of 50-year-old victim Alfredo Tabing.

The suspects allegedly wanted to rob the EDSA Balintawak dealership after a recent major sale and the office safe supposedly contained a substantial amount of money, the police said.

“Noong [December] 23 kasi, nakapagbenta yung agent dyan ng dalawang sasakyan. So as empleyado dyan, malalaman mo yan, lalo na yung isa ay driver at yung isa naman ay barista yung suspek natin dyan,” Llapitan said.

(On December 23, the agent there was able to sell two cars. So as an employee there, you will know that, especially one of our suspects is a driver and the other is a barista.)

While there was no security camera footage of the crime, a witness allegedly saw the two suspects and two other accomplices carry off the office vault.

Police said that Tabing may have tried to prevent the robbery. 

“Sa ating assessment, maaaring ayaw ng guwardiya or pinigilan niya yung krimen na gagawin, kasi kakilala niya eh. Siguro nagtiwala siya, kaya walang struggle kung saan siya namatay. At walang forced entry,” Llapitan said.

(Based on our assessment, the guard either did not want to participate or he tried to prevent the crime, because he was familiar with the suspects. Maybe he trusted them so there was no sign of a struggle at the scene of his death. And there was no sign of forced entry.)

Tabing last talked to his wife at past 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve last year. When she called at 10 p.m., Tabing was no longer answering her phonecall.

When the wife went to the dealership the following day, she learned about her husband’s tragic death.—RF, GMA Integrated News