QC traffic jam aids car hijacking

By: Jeannette I. Andrade - 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—Snail-paced vehicular traffic along a major thoroughfare in Quezon City was all it took for armed car thieves to commandeer a van from a 30-year-old motorist on Monday night.

Jamel Macadaag of Barangay (village) Commonwealth was navigating his white Toyota Hi-Ace van (POB-139) along Mindanao Avenue through slow-moving traffic near Alley 15 in Barangay Bagong Pag-asa when the bandits took the vehicle from him.

According to a report from the Quezon City Police District’s Masambong station, the incident happened shortly past 6 p.m. on Monday.

Masambong police station commander Superintendent Pedro Sanchez said that with traffic hardly moving because of a bottleneck in the area, a man approached Macadaag’s vehicle and suddenly opened the passenger side door.

To Macadaag’s surprise the man got on the passenger seat and brandished a .38-caliber revolver, poking his nape with the muzzle.

Sanchez said that another man opened the door on the driver’s side and grabbed the steering wheel.

Fearing for his life, the driver jumped out of the van and ran to nearby establishment to seek help from security guards. But by the time he was able to get help, vehicular traffic had become unsnarled and had started moving, and the car thieves completed their escape in the stolen van.

According to Sanchez, Masambong station operatives conducted follow-up operations to locate the stolen vehicle in nearby areas but there was neither a sign of the van nor of the bandits.

The case was turned over to the QCPD anti-car theft unit for further investigation and follow-up operations.