Not me, says pa of slain auto dealer on road attack vs carjack suspects

“DON’T look at us, we also fear for our lives.”

This was the reaction of Arsenio Evangelista to an alleged attempt on Tuesday to ambush the convoy of the Dominguez brothers, the primary suspects in the killing of his son Venson, a car dealer, more than a year ago.

Suspected carjack gang leaders Raymond Dominguez and his brother Roger had just come from a court hearing in Quezon City when two men on a motorcycle fired upon their two-vehicle convoy at around 3 p.m. in Eastwood, Libis, Quezon City. Raymond was grazed by a bullet in the ear but his brother, three other inmates and several jail guards were unhurt.

“I want to state categorically that I had nothing to do with the ambush and we ourselves fear for our lives, even the witnesses against the suspects,” Evangelista told reporters Wednesday in a press briefing.

Chief Superintendent Mario de la Vega, Quezon City Police District director, said that the gunshot wound sustained by Raymond showed the ambush was not staged.

“The bullet hit [an area near] the [ear] lobe which is [beside] the nape,” he said, adding, “There was real intent to inflict harm on the target.”

Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo on Wednesday ordered the police to probe the ambush. “Leave no stone unturned until the suspects are identified and arrested,” he told Philippine National Police chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome.—With DJ Yap