MANILA, Philippines -- A suspected car thief who was supposed to steal a parked car was killed in an alleged shootout with policemen in Quezon City before dawn Tuesday.

The still unidentified man died on the spot after a gunbattle with plainclothes agents of the Quezon City Police District's Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) at 4:15 a.m., said Superintendent Antonio Yarra, chief of the QCPD General Investigation Section.

In a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Yarra said a team of QCPD-CIDU operatives were on a routine patrol when they chanced upon a man who allegedly broke the window of a parked Mitsubishi Lancer (TPJ 903), using a rock, near the corner of Panay Avenue and Scout Esguerra.

When the policemen, led by Inspector Roberto Razon, tried to accost him, the man reportedly pulled out a gun from his waist and fired at them, triggering the five-minute gunfight.

Yarra said the man died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

A .38-caliber revolver was recovered from the slain man, he added.