Teen car thief no match for observant jeep driver

Thanks to an observant jeepney driver, a teenager was arrested on Sunday morning after he stole a passenger jeepney in Valenzuela City and drove it all the way to Quezon City.

Donald John Torribio, 18, a resident of Malabon City, was taken into custody by operatives of the Novaliches police station after he was caught red-handed driving the jeepney (NXC 859) owned by Donato de Guzman, 59, which plied the Malinta-Babaguin route in Valenzuela City.

The vehicle was stolen between 12:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Sunday while it was parked on Amapola Street, Bahayanin Pag-Asa Subdivision in Maysan, Valenzuela City.

Case investigator SPO1 Glenn Consorte said Torribio apparently used a false key to drive off with the vehicle but he was spotted hours later on Gen. Luis Street in Novaliches, Quezon City, by Marlon Consigo, a jeepney driver and operator.

Unfortunately for Torribio, Consigo knew the real owner of the passenger jeepney. When he failed to recognize the driver, he immediately suspected that the young man may have stolen the vehicle.

He quickly reported the incident to policemen in the area led by SPO1 Dante Surban who arrested the teenage thief and recovered the stolen jeepney.

A second complainant identified as 55-year-old jeepney driver Vicente Vedeja later reported the theft of his vehicle to the police. When confronted, Torribio told authorities where the missing jeepney was, leading to the recovery of the vehicle.—With Nathaniel R. Melican