NPD wants to recruit teen who foiled heist

MANILA, Philippines - It was like David versus Goliath in Caloocan City on Friday when an 18-year-old student foiled a jeepney robbery by grabbing the gun of a robber.

"I did it because of adrenaline rush," Jonathan Tacorda, 18, said in an interview with the STAR.

Inspector Edsel Ibasco, chief investigator of the Northern Police District (NPD), said Tacorda, a student of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, was texting inside a Navotas-bound jeepney when suspect Emerson Camba, 32, boarded the vehicle on 4th Avenue about 10 a.m.

Camba sat infront of Tacorda, who was going to his classmate's house.

Tacorda, meanwhile, continued to use his Samsung Pocket cellular phone despite Camba's presence, saying he was "unaware" of the suspect's intention.

"After 10 minutes, (Camba) told the jeepney driver to stop the vehicle and declared a heist. Camba grabbed my bag, aimed his gun at me and said: 'This is a hold up. Give me your cellular phone.'" Tacorda recalled in his statement to the police.

Tacorda refused to give his phone and grabbed Camba's gun through its barrel. Camba, who was drunk, pulled Tacorda out of the vehicle until they fell on the street.

The robber tried to pull the trigger but his face towel got stuck in his .38 caliber revolver - causing the gun to jam while enabling Tacorda to grab his arms.

When the student managed to grab the gun, Camba ran away but tripped over. Concerned citizens approached the suspect and beat him. Fireman Alfredo Fernandez saw the commotion and arrested Camba.

At NPD headquarters, cops advised Tacorda in jest: "Don't text in public."

Police Officer 1 Richard Canlas of NPD's investigation unit said Camba was only charged with frustrated robbery because the act "was not consummated." But he was also slapped with illegal possession of firearms and violation of the Commission on Elections Omnibus Election Code.