‘Car theft gang still active’

The Dominguez car theft gang remains active even though its two leaders—brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez—are behind bars and facing numerous cases.

The police recently came to this conclusion after a witness positively identified Rolando Talban—also known as Eduardo or Joel Fernandez—as the man who shot and killed Teresita Teaño on June 15.

Talban was earlier tagged as the gunman in the killing of car dealer Venson Evangelista, a crime that, according to the police and a member of the group who was being considered as a state witness, was carried out by the Dominguez brothers and their cohorts.

He was charged along with other gang members for the crime although he remains at large.

Based on their findings, members of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) on Monday filed car theft and murder charges against Talban with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office in connection with Teaño’s death.

The 34-year-old Teaño was on her way to a yoga class in Kamuning, Quezon City, when three men tried to steal her red Hyundai Accent.

When she resisted, she was shot. A witness said the car thieves got into her vehicle and even ran over her in their haste to escape.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, QCPD-CIDU head, said that based on their findings, the Dominguez gang remains active despite the incarceration of its leaders.

“They did not really stop and apparently, the other members of the group could be getting instructions from someone,” Marcelo told the Inquirer.

According to him, Talban—who is on their list of most-wanted men—has been in and out of jail several times and is the subject of several arrest warrants for car theft charges.

Police records showed that Talban was arrested in October last year after he figured in a shootout with operatives of the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.

Two of his companions were killed in the encounter and he tried to escape but was forced to surrender when the vehicle he was driving hit the sidewalk.

He was later charged with car robbery and then released after he posted bail.

After Talban was identified as the gunman in the Evangelista case, the PNP-HPG put up a P100,000 reward for his capture.

The car dealer disappeared on January 13 after he went on a test drive with two men who had expressed interest in buying a Toyota Land Cruiser he was selling.

His charred body was found a day later in Cabanatuan City.

Raymond and Roger Dominguez, along with Jayson Miranda, are detained at the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City while the court is hearing the case against them in connection with Evangelista’s death.

It was a fellow syndicate member, Alfred Mendiola, who tagged the brothers as the ones who planned the car-jacking and Talban as the gunman.

Among the accused in the case, only Talban and a certain Joel remain at large although there are warrants for their arrest.

In a court hearing last week, Mendiola, who is being eyed as a state witness, went into detail on each member of the gang’s participation in the abduction and killing of Evangelista.

Mendiola said Raymond Dominguez had ordered him to introduce himself as Allan Torres, Joel as his mechanic and to tell the victim that he wanted to buy the Land Cruiser as a present for his father.

He added that on January 13, he called up the victim’s father, Arsenio, to set up a meeting in the afternoon. It was Venson, however, who met him at the former’s house in Cubao, Quezon City. The victim initially refused to let him take the SUV on a test drive but Mendiola said he was able to talk him into it.

During the test drive, Mendiola said that they were being followed by other members of the car theft syndicate: Miranda and Talban were in a green Pajero while Raymond Dominguez was in a white Expedition.

After they took over the vehicle from Evangelista, Talban boarded the Cruiser and covered the victim’s eyes and mouth with tape while also tying his hands. They then took him to a warehouse in Pampanga.