QC police trio tagged in SUV theft: ‘We just parked it nearby’

Three Quezon City policemen are in hot water for allegedly stealing a sport utility vehicle, which was recovered by its owner after nine days.

Facing charges of car theft and falsification in the city prosecutors office are PO3s Fernando de la Cruz and Roberto Tripon and PO1 Sherwin Reyes, all assigned to the La Loma substation.

The Quezon City Police District filed the complaints on Friday after the owner of the Toyota RAV-4 (UNF-553) came to the police station in search of the vehicle.

Bessie Ang, 54, only got back her SUV on Aug. 30, or nine days after it went “missing.”

In a referral letter, Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit said the vehicle was parked by Ang’s son on Bulusan Street, Barangay San Isidro Labrador, on Aug. 20.

The next day, a resident thought that the vehicle had been abandoned and reported it to the La Loma police station, which then sent the three policemen to the area.

The resident saw the trio managing to unlock the RAV-4, and presumed that they were taking it for safekeeping as they drove off, according to Marcelo’s letter.

But when Ang went to the station, she did not find the vehicle or any record of its recovery. She noticed, however, that a logbook entry about a certain vehicle’s license plate number was altered from “UNF 553” to “UVN 558.”

Ang later found out that the dubious plate number was that of a delivery truck.

The SUV was returned to her nine days after it was allegedly taken by the policemen. The RAV-4 now appeared to have been freshly painted and its scratches and dents have been covered up.

In their defense, the three policemen said they did recover the RAV-4 and claimed that they just parked it on Malaya Street, which is adjacent to their station. But they admitted their failure to file a report about it.