Thieves in cop uniform steal worker’s bike at checkpoint

Motorcycle thieves, who posed as policemen, stole before dawn Saturday a bike from two harbor workers whom they flagged down at a bogus checkpoint they set up in Manila.

The two suspected thieves were in complete police uniform and were armed with a .45 caliber pistol and an automatic rifle, which initially convinced the two motorcycle riders that they were legitimate police operatives. Until one of the “policemen” took the motorcycle.

On an errand

Jess Hipolito, 47, an operations coordinator at the Harbor Center, of Dagat-Dagatan, Malabon City, claimed that the “policemen” stole a Yamaha Mio (2951-TQ) he borrowed for an errand from a colleague.

In his complaint filed with the Manila Police District, Hipolito said that the incident happened at around 1 a.m. Saturday, along Katuparan, Road 10 in Tondo.

Checkpoint operation

He and another colleague, Patrick Cabilles, were on an errand to buy food when he was flagged down by uniformed policemen, who were apparently conducting checkpoint operations.

When Hipolito stopped and told the policemen, one of whom identified himself as an “SPO3 Dominguez,” that he merely borrowed the motorcycle, the police personnel allegedly asked him for P1,000 pointing out alleged deficiencies in the motorbike’s registration.

The demand prompted Hipolito to call the owner of the bike and ask him to come over.

When the owner arrived, Hipolito and Cabilles had alighted from the motorcycle and were talking with Dominguez while the other policeman had gotten on another motorcycle, waiting for his companion.

Only P200

The owner allegedly told Dominguez that he could only give him P200, which he had to borrow from Hipolito. SPO3 Dominguez pocketed the money and sat on Hipolito’s motorcycle.

To the three harbor workers’ surprise, the policeman started the engine and sped away on the motorcycle followed by the other motorcycle-riding policeman.

The trio immediately sought assistance from the nearest police station and reported the incident to the MPD’s anticarnapping and hijacking unit .

Police operatives are conducting follow-up operations for the identification and arrest of the motorcycle thieves as well as the possible recovery of the stolen vehicle.