Marpi robbers strike thrice

The Department of Public Safety was in the midst of creating a task force to investigate robberies when Marpi robbers struck thrice over the weekend, victimizing Chinese tourists.

The special Robbery Task Force that DPS Commissioner Robert Guerrero formed led to the arrest on Sunday night of one of the suspects, identified as 28-year-old Alvin Iguel Blas.

A video of the robbery on Sunday afternoon near Banzai lookout went viral in China and in the Chinese community on Saipan, according to QQ Rent-a-Car owner James Han yesterday.

In the video, two women are seen running and screaming on the road on their way to a parked car, where a man was on the driver’s seat.

According to Han, robbers victimized tourists at Bird Island Lookout on Friday morning, at Grotto on Saturday afternoon, and at Banzai Cliff on Sunday afternoon. He said all victims rented cars from his company.

Acting DPS spokesman Sgt. Jason Tarkong only released information about the robbery at Banzai Cliff.

Tarkong said one of three victims suffered minor abrasions and cuts to her extremities as she was dragged by the suspect’s car. She was brought to the Commonwealth Health Center, where she was treated.

Stolen from the victims were one pink backpack, one iPhone 6S, $900 cash, three Chinese passports, and two credit cards.

The suspect was described as male, about 5’5” to 5’6” tall, tanned skin, wearing a gray or green T-shirt and a pair of khaki brown pants, and was driving a white car.

Tarkong said that, on Sunday at 2:01pm, police responded to a robbery incident near the Banzai Cliff lookout.

Police learned that a few minutes before the robbery, three Chinese female tourists, ages 24, 26, and 28, parked their pink Mustang car rental on the shoulder of the road entering Banzai cliff to take photographs.

The suspect arrived in his car, got out, approached the three tourists, and offered to help take photographs of them.

The suspect then reached inside the victims’ car and grabbed the pink backpack. One of the victims held on to the backpack.

The suspect ran to his car and entered the front passenger side, while the victim was still holding on to the backpack.

The suspect drove away, dragging the victim. He managed to pull the backpack away, causing the victim to fall.

The two other victims chased the suspect’s car.

Tarkong said the special Robbery Task Force obtained evidence to locate the suspect’s white Hyundai Accent and the license plate number.

Tarkong said the Task Force learned that the license plate belongs to a car rental company, which then led to the identification and arrest of Blas on Sunday at 11:14pm.

In the Bird Island Lookout case, Han said two women were sightseeing aboard a Mustang car.

One of two male suspects grabbed the woman’s cellphone and fled on a car.

In the Grotto robbery, Han said, five tourists were sightseeing and had parked their SUV.

Three to four male suspects, one armed with a machete, robbed them of $100 cash, credit cards, cellphones, and other items. The suspects then fled on a car.

The robbers’ style used to involve damaging the cars in order to get the tourists’ valuables from inside the vehicles. Han said robbers are now pointing weapons or grabbing away cash and items from the victims.

He said the series of robbery in Marpi started two or three weeks ago.