Owner-type jeep not spared by car thieves in QC

MANILA, Philippines — Car thieves in Quezon City apparently spare nothing – not even a humble owner-type jeep.

A government worker lost his ride after an armed man sped off with his parked jeep using another key.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon at a parking lot along A. Bonifacio Ave. near Calavite St. in Barangay (village) Paang Bundok.

The jeep’s owner, government employee Faustino Placido, 56, a resident of Barangay Sto. Domingo, returned to the parking lot to find his jeepney gone.

Case investigator, Police Officer 2 Iris Dio, said the missing vehicle was an owner-type jeepney with license plate CPH-473.

Dio of the Quezon City Police District’s Anti Carnapping Unit said the theft happened at around 1:20 p.m., reported by parking attendant Cesar Florentino, 47.

Florentino told police that a lone armed man stole the jeepney by using a duplicate key.

The parking attendant recalled that he noticed a man trying to get the jeep started and that he approached him.

But the man, caught red-handed, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Florentino’s face in a bid to scare him.

The man quickly drove off with the owner-type jeep after successfully getting its engine started.

The theft was the fifth incident in a week in Quezon City, police records showed.

Last Wednesday, a retired cop, Arielito Canlas, was buying pan de sal when car-jackers hit him on the head and sped off with his Hyundai Tucson.

The next day, motorist Mario Eugenio lost his Nissan Navarra when two men donning police uniforms blocked his path and forcibly took the vehicle from him.

On Friday, a car thief stealthily boarded a parked Mitsubishi Montero while its driver, Roberto Feleo, was filling the vehicle’s tires with air at a gasoline station.

On Saturday night, carjackers took a Toyota Hi-Lux from motorist Alfredo Caparros in front of a popular lechon restaurant in Barangay Paang Bundok.