Suspected ring leader tagged in carjacking of ex-senator Pimentel’s van

Former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The alleged leader of a car theft gang recently arrested by the Quezon City Police District was tagged in the 2012 carjacking of ex-senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.’s van.

Joemel Salvatierra was positively identified as among those who seized the senator’s Toyota Super Grandia from its driver on Jan. 29, 2013 in Barangay (village) Bahay Toro.

Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao, QCPD deputy director for administration, said the vehicle was recovered after it was abandoned by the four-man group allegedly headed by the 30-year-old Salvatierra.

“The van was taken at gunpoint from the driver who recognized Salvatierra from our rogues gallery,” the official said in a press conference.

Salvatierra, a.k.a. “Niknok,” was arrested at around 10 a.m. Wednesday after attending a court hearing in Malolos, Bulacan for a car theft case.

Operatives from the QCPD’s Anti Carnapping Unit served an arrest warrant from a Valenzuela court for illegal possession of firearms. The suspect was then with his lawyer.

Aside from the Pimentel case, Salvatierra was also allegedly involved in the taking of a Hyundai Tucson on Feb. 22, 2012 in the Tandang Sora area.

After the two heists, the suspect was arrested on March 6, 2012, with four others at a safehouse in Baliwag, Bulacan.

The suspects were apparently able to post bail for their previous arrests.

Chief Inspector Roderick Tonga, the Ancar head, said stolen vehicles and paraphernalia believed to be used in car theft were found inside the safehouse.

Among those recovered were electronic gadgets which allow the duplication of keys of an unattended vehicle within minutes, easily enabling them to steal it.

The group also used devices that allowed car thieves to turn off the global positioning system of a stolen car and prevent the owner from tracking it.

Pagdilao claimed that there has not been any carjacking in Quezon since Salvatierra’s arrest in 2012.