ACTOR-DIRECTOR ROWELL Santiago yesterday told the police that he would file charges of qualified theft against his driver who allegedly took his sport utility vehicle (SUV) without his permission.

Senior Insp. Dario Anasco, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s anticar theft unit, identified Santiago’s driver as Rogelio Sabanal, 33, a resident of Filmore Street in Don Antonio Royal Heights Subdivision, Balara, Quezon City.

He said Sabanal was arrested on Tuesday morning while driving the actor’s Toyota 4Runner (WAP 800) in the vicinity of Tivoli Subdivision, near Ever Gotesco Commonwealth, in Quezon City.

“The car was missing for more than 12 hours and despite repeated calls to the suspect’s phone, there was no reply so the victim decided to report the stolen vehicle to the police,” Anasco said.

He added that Santiago was determined to press charges against Sabanal for taking his SUV without his consent and then failing to return it within a reasonable period.

According to Anasco, Santiago first found out that his driver took his vehicle at around 11 p.m. on Monday.

When he failed to find and contact his driver, the actor went to the police to ask for their help.

Anasco said they received information that the vehicle had been spotted near Tivoli Subdivision after they alerted other police units to look around for the missing SUV.

When they checked the information, they found out that the driver had a drinking spree with some residents in the area.