1 slain, 1 hurt in ‘Boac' ambush

One was slain while another was hurt when still unidentified armed men ambushed two men suspected with links to the dreaded “Boac” gang in Carmen town last week. The incident happened in Barangay Nueva Fuerza, Carmen town late in the evening last May 16. Investigators identified the victims as Ondoy Sarmiento and Margarito Dag-um. Sarmiento, whose real name was not established at the time the report was made, died on the spot.

Sarmiento was declared dead on arrival at the Cong. Simeon Toribio District Hospital in Carmen while attending physicians attending to Dag-um pronounced him out of danger. Initial reports said the two had been singing with a video karaoke at the house of a certain Jigger Legazpi that night until they decided to go to Barangay Villaflor where a disco was being held. The two rode on a Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Dag-um and were on their way to what they thought would be a night of fun. Upon reaching Nueva Fuerza at about 10:30 , the motorcycle they were riding got snagged by a rope that was laid out to entrap them. Thrown off balance by the impact, the two men fell from their seats and found themselves sitting ducks at the hands of the suspects. Between two to three armed men emerged from the roadsides and rained bullets on the two. The suspects were armed with caliber .45 revolver. Sarmiento, who sustained three bullet wounds, did not survive the ambush and was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physicians.

In an interview with Station DyTR, Sr. Insp. Melanio Artiaga, Carmen PNP chief, it was learned that Dag-um is a suspected member of the dreaded Boac gang. He said this was based on intelligence reports. The gang has been blamed for a series of robberies and hold-ups in different parts of the provinces in recent weeks. It was not immediately known if Sarmiento was also suspected of involvement in the gang that gained notoriety for various criminalities including cellular phone snatchings. Dag-um allegedly had recently cooled off his heels in Cebu after several operations. The police chief said one of the angles being considered for the ambush was revenge but he did not elaborate. Artiaga said he was surprised by the notoriety that the gang reaped in recent days saying this was not the group's reputation when it was formed.

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