Two women including a 70-year-old senior fell prey to separate roadside robberies carried out within an hour on Monday afternoon and possibly perpetrated by the same suspect.

Police reported that both female victims were robbed in Catigbian and neighboring town Sagbayan at past 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

According to Catigbian police chief Captain Narciso Laruga, the robberies in the adjacent towns may have been perpetrated by the same suspect based on the report of one of the victims, Lourdes Samoya, 70, of San Isidro town.

Samoya told investigators that the suspect on board a gray car fled towards Sagbayan following the incident in Catigbian, Laruga said.

The male suspect wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses alighted from the vehicle and grabbed Samoya’s shoulder bag while she was standing at a waiting shed in Barangay Poblacion, Laruga added.

Meanwhile, Rose Briones, 42, of Sagbayan gave a similar description of the suspect who robbed her at a barangay road in Barangay Canmaya Centro of said town. He was riding a gray car and wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses, said Corporal Gladys Sumbilon of the Sagbayan Police Station based on Briones’ statement.

The suspect held Briones at gunpoint and declared a hold up saying “ambi nang imong bag. Kung di na nimo ihatag patyon tika.”

Like Samoya, Briones also lost her shoulder bag which contained IDs and cash amounting to less than P1,000.

Both victims however could not give an exact descriprion of the car including the make and model.

Police stations in Catigbian and Sagbayan meanwhile continued their investigations on the cases.

It was the second robbery incident in Catigbian which was allegedly carried out by a suspect on board a gray car in less than a month.

Like Samoya, the previous victims, identified as Jeprey Anaya, Gea Mae Gromontil and Lovely Tangcawan were also robbed while they were standing together at a waiting shed in Catigbian. They were held at gunpoint by a mask-clad suspect.

Also last month, two individuals including a 62-year-old woman in Baclayon and a principal in Sierra Bullones reported to police that they were robbed near the road by a suspect who was also riding a gray car.

Police however have yet to issue a statement regarding the series of robberies and confirm whether or not the crimes were carried out by the same suspect or group. (A. Dodyora)