Chalan Piao store robbed at knifepoint

A surveillance camera led to the arrest Sunday night of a 23-year-old man who allegedly took off with $850 cash during an armed robbery at Blue Sky Supermarket in Chalan Piao Saturday afternoon.

Alvaro Joseph Cabrera, also known as A.J., was served with an arrest warrant in Afetnas on Sunday at 10:23pm on charges of robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and disturbing the peace.

Alvaro Joseph Cabrera

Surveillance footage of the robbery showed a man in a blue shirt and a pair of short pants grabbing a package containing a small knife and using it as the weapon to rob the store. (Contributed Photo)

Police said several family members identified Cabrera after detectives showed them a video footage of the robbery.

At a hearing yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho kept the $10,000 cash bail the court earlier imposed in issuing the arrest warrant. Assistant public defender Michael Sato was appointed Cabrera’s counsel.

Preliminary hearing will be on March 3 at 1:30pm.

Police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan stated in her report that Department of Public Safety Central Dispatcher informed police officers about an armed robbery in progress at Blue Sky Supermarket on Saturday at 1:28pm.

Police officer Travis Hurst responded to the scene and relayed the descriptions of the suspect to the responding police units as relayed to him by the store’s cashier.

Pangelinan said she and two other detectives arrived at the store, where the owner showed them the surveillance footage of the robbery.

The video showed a man in a blue shirt and a pair of short pants entering the store at 1:27pm and walking around. The suspect then grabbed a package containing a small knife and used it as the weapon.

The cashier said the suspect approached the counter, showed the knife, and demanded money. The cashier pointed to the cash drawer, where the suspect took $850 cash, then fled northeast.

Pangelinan said they proceeded to a compound near Blue Sky Supermarket and showed the footage through her cell phone to a man, who identified the suspect as his relative.

The family member said Cabrera, who was in the compound earlier that morning, created problems and then disappeared in a jungle near Blue Sky Supermarket.

Three other family members identified Cabrera in the footage, saying he was in the compound earlier that day.

One family member disclosed they had to call the police because Cabrera had a problem with a taxi driver.