The Malabon Police identified the suspect as Philip Maniego, a 35-year-old resident of Barangay Longos, Malabon.
According to the police report filed by the officer on the case, Senior Police Officer 1 Edsel de la Paz, the suspect was arrested as he and two other companions tried to flee after sucking fuel from a van in Barangay Niugan.
Investigation revealed that Maniego and his two other companions, who remain at large, tried to siphon fuel from at least two vehicles in Barangay Niugan in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
The first witness, a duty fire volunteer at the San Antonio Fire Volunteer Station in Sanciangco Street in Barangay Niugan, told the police that he was awakened at 2 a.m. by the sound of Maniego and his companions opening the tank lid of their diesel-powered fire truck parked at the station headquarters.
The fire volunteer added that the men used a pink tricycle (TZ 3907) as transportation. He immediately shouted for help as he saw the three draining diesel fuel from the fire truck’s tank. However, the suspects escaped using the tricycle, leaving behind a plastic pail filled with about two liters of diesel.
Meanwhile, another witness, a laborer who lives along C. Santos Street in the same barangay, told the police that at around 2:30 a.m., he saw the same pink tricycle park beside an Isuzu Elf closed van parked along the street.
The witness then saw the three men sucking off the diesel fuel from the van. He then shouted for help, prompting the suspects to flee again from the crime scene, this time bringing with them the fuel they had extracted.
However, a group of policemen from the Niugan Community Precinct saw the commotion, and decided to pursue the thieves, who had scampered away in different directions.
The policemen eventually arrested Maniego, as he was driving the pink tricycle they used as transportation. Seized from him were about seven liters of diesel fuel stored in plastic water bottles, a vise grip, and empty bottles.
Both the witnesses, who reported to the police, confirmed that Maniego was among the three men who took fuel out of the two vehicles.
The Malabon Police are now preparing theft charges against Maniego while still hunting down the two other suspects.
Police believed Maniego and his gang would re-sell the stolen fuel to motorists.