‘More daring car theft gang’

A CAR robbery group more daring than that led by detained car theft suspects, brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez, is headed by a 21-year-old, police said.

Supt. Ferdinand Villanueva, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Anti-Carnapping Unit (Dacu), identified the leader as Gilbert Marteja-Briones, of a rival gang group pitted against the Dominguez brothers, who are also in their 20s.

“The Marteja-Briones group is more dangerous than the Dominguez brothers as they are reportedly users of illegal drugs,” Villanueva said.

The Briones group forcibly took a white 2009 model Mitsubishi Montero owned by Maria Maxima Garin at around 2:45 p.m. on Thursday in front of Montessori Child Development Center on Esteban Abada Street, Loyola Heights in Quezon City.

Briones was identified by Ishmael de los Reyes, Garin’s driver, as the armed man who took the vehicle, from photographs in a gallery of suspected car robbers maintained by police.

The driver told police he was seated inside the vehicle waiting for Garin’s son to come out from his school when Briones and a companion suddenly appeared and pointed a gun at him.

He was dropped off by the suspects unharmed after they took his personal belongings along Ferra Road corner Edsa .

Briones had been arrested and charged with car theft earlier, but was released after he posted bail, Villanueva said.

The police official described Briones as tall, fair skinned and sporting a skinhead hair style.

He added that based on the accounts of Briones’ gang mates who had been arrested, Briones chooses the car they want to steal, deals with the buyer and personally pays other recruits of the gang.