It looks easy on TV, so maid tries taxi robbery

A knife-wielding woman was arrested for allegedly attempting to rob a taxi driver in Quezon City on Friday afternoon.

“She said she needed the money to pay for a hearing aid,” Supt. Danilo Pecaña said of the suspect, Nilven Lazaro, 23, who produced an ID showing she is currently employed as a housemaid. “She said she thought it was easy to rob a taxi because she often saw it on television.”

Lazaro boarded a cab driven by Jaime Jaucian, 58, on Lacson Street in Manila around 4 p.m. and asked to be brought to Ayala Heights in Barangay Old Balara, according to Pecaña, commander of Quezon City Police District’s Project 4 station.

She pulled out a knife and declared a holdup as the cab drove past Daily Supermart on P. Tuazon Boulevard in Project 4. But after being forced to hand her his cash amounting to P350, Jaucian put up a fight and tried to wrench the knife out of her hand.

The scuffle, which left both of them wounded, caught the attention of QCPD-Project 4 members on patrol in the area, who had Lazaro arrested after Jaucian told them what happened, Pecaña said.

Pecaña said Lazaro’s occupation and address on P. Burgos Street in upscale Ayala Heights were indicated in an identification card she presented.

“We still have to verify it. It’s for follow-up,” Pecaña said when asked if investigators had contacted her supposed employer. -Erika Sauler