A TikToker had a man arrested after he returned her phone for allegedly extorting money in exchange for her lost gadget.
In a Facebook post, Jhon Michael Cuizon, boyfriend of TikTok personality Hazel Edep, narrated that the latter lost her phone when they went to Divisoria on July 14.
He said they tried contacting Hazel’s number but to no avail. Cuizon later received a message from a man informing them that her phone was picked up by someone and asked them to give a reward in return for the lost item.
Cuizon continued to say that they willingly offered to reward P7,000 to the man, but that the latter allegedly refused and insisted that they give him P50,000 instead.
He further alleged that the man even made threats against Hazel.
“Sinabi namin na willing kami magbigay ng 7k. Tumawa lamang siya at sinabing kulang ito. Dahil daw mamahalin ang iPhone, 50k ang hinihiling nila. Bukod dito pinagsalitaan pa si Hazel na, pupuntahan sa bahay, pipiliting kunin ang pera, at baka magahasa pa siya,” Cuizon wrote in the Facebook post.
Worried for Hazel’s safety, Cuizon said that they sought help from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who carried out an entrapment operation when they arranged a meeting with the man who returned the TikToker’s phone.
“Dahil sa takot na nararamdaman na namin ni Hazel noon, nagpasya kami na magpunta sa CIDG. Sa harap mismo at dinig na dinig nang pulis, ay pinipilit kami na magbigay ng 50k para ibigay ang cellphone. Dito ay tinulungan kami ng mga kapulisan, at tuluyan ngang na-entrap ang isang lalaki na tumanggap ng pera, at nagbalik ng telepono,” said Cuizon.
CIDG arrested the man named Angelito Martin for robbery and extortion.
Prior to Cuizon’s Facebook post, a certain Amor Amor Martin expressed disappointment on the arrest of her brother, a tricycle driver who has just been out of the hospital due to a mild stroke.
Amor called for help on social media for Angelito’s release, saying that her younger brother had no ill intention and would be happy to receive whatever amount of money as reward, which he could use to buy medicine.
“Kasi sabi po daw ng may ari ng cp (cellphone)… magbibigay po (silang) reward… Natuwa naman ang kapatid ko dahil siguro ang naisip niya na may ipambibili na (siya) ng gamot kaya lumabas siya kasama ang asawa niya. (Doon) na siya pinusasan at hinuli ng pulis nung naibigay yung pera sa kapatid namin, dali-dali daw hinuli,” said Amor.
“Umasa (siya) sa pinangako ng kausap nya sa cp na may reward siyang matatanggap pero ipinahuli po siya nang walang kalaban laban.
“Maawa naman po kayo sa kapatid namin. Nakikiusap po kami. Nakausap ng asawa ang taga Crame. Naitanong niya kung magkano ang piyansa ng kapatid ko, 50k daw ang sabi. Saan naman namin kukunin yun. Mahabaging DIYOS,” she added.
Hazel, whose handle queenluvs14 has over 10 million followers on TikTok, has set her account to private and has yet to address the issue.
Read Amor’s full statement here:
