HPG director, Brig. Gen. Alexander Tagum. (File photo)
MANILA – Operatives of the Philippine National Police–Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) have arrested three notorious car theft suspects in recent operations.
In a press release, the HPG said Carlo Requeron, Bohol’s top 2 most wanted car thief, was arrested by members of the Provincial Highway Patrol Team (PHPT)-Bohol and PHPT-Laguna on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Pangasinan’s top 1 most wanted car thief, Mary Jane Tolentino was arrested by joint elements of the PHPT Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija police on Thursday while she was attending her husband’s wake in Barangay Papaya in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija.
On October 18, members of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit (RHPU) in Eastern Visayas arrested Rodolfo Vacunawa, the region’s 4th most wanted person.
Vacunawa has an outstanding warrant of arrest for car theft and robbery issued by a Northern Samar court in October last year with a bail of PHP120,000.
Meanwhile, a hold-up suspect died in an encounter with elements of the RHPU 4A (Calabarzon) and the Biñan City Police Station on October 28.
The still unidentified suspect and his companion mugged 26-year-old William Dagotdot Jr, a security officer and resident of Barangay Langkiwa in Biñan City, Laguna in the wee hours of the morning and took the victim's black Honda Raider.
Local law enforcers were notified immediately and coordinated with RHPU4A personnel for a dragnet operation as the suspects headed towards Barangay Sto. Tomas.
A law enforcement team quickly spotted the suspect, who was driving the stolen motorcycle, and attempted to flag him down. Instead of stopping, the suspect sped away but lost his balance and slid along the roadside. As the police drew near, the suspect began shooting at them, forcing the law enforcers to exchange fire and kill the suspect in the process.
Recovered from the scene was a pistol with one live bullet and several discharged cartridges, while the victim identified the slain suspect and his recovered motorcycle. Meanwhile, police teams are still searching for the second suspect.
HPG director, Brig. Gen. Alexander Tagum has expressed great satisfaction over the arrests.
“Our unrelenting campaign against syndicated and street-level carnappers is paying off as we planned them to be. Carnappers and all sorts of crooks will get nothing less than the HPG being hellbent on tracking down every last one of them and bring them to justice,” he said. (PNA)
