Batangas couple fleeing from cops die when grenade explodes in car

SAN PEDRO CITY – A man facing 12 arrest warrants for robbery, car theft, and murder, died along with his girlfriend when the grenade he was carrying exploded as they were fleeing from policemen in Talisay, Batangas.

Supt. Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson of the Calabarzon police, named the slain suspect as Jeffrey Escobido, who ranked second in the regional police’s most wanted persons list.

The other fatality was Escobido’s girlfriend, Jhoan Escano.

Gaoiran, on Tuesday, said police have long been tracking down Escobido, until the regional intelligence police unit located him in Barangay Leynes in Talisay around 5 p.m., Monday.

The police, with 12 arrest warrants issued by different courts in Batangas and Quezon, tried to arrest Escobido but he and Escano escaped onboard an unmarked car.

“They fled towards Barangay Caloocan (still in Talisay),” Gaoiran said in a phone interview.

Gaoiran said shots were being fired from the suspects’ car during the chase, although it was not clear who between the two was firing the gun.

The car then exploded with what police later found out was a hand grenade.

“(Escobido) probably intended to throw it at the police but it already exploded just before he was able to do so,” Gaoiran said.

The police said Escobido was part of the Magtangol de Castro gun-for-hire group that the police busted in Candelaria, Quezon on July 14.

Escobido was also wanted for the killings of two Batangas police intelligence officers, a brother of a government official in Laurel, Batangas, and several car thefts and robbery incidents in Lucena City, Quezon and Tanauan City, Batangas.