Car theft gang member nabbed

MANILA, Philippines—An alleged member of a car theft gang has been arrested while another escaped in a chase that started near the boundary of Caloocan City and ended in Novaliches, Quezon City, before dawn Thursday.

Chief Supt. Benjardi Mantele, Quezon City Police District director, said the suspects shot and wounded a security guard who tried to stop them as they boarded a Nissan Urvan stolen inside a subdivision.

Mantele identified the suspect as Ricardo Ocampo, who was initially able to elude pursuing policemen by using several vehicles in an escape route.

Ocampo, however, was arrested by operatives of the district anti-carnap group who spotted him and his companion as they alighted from a taxi along Sauyo Road at around 1 a.m.

Mantele said Ocampo is part of the Francisco-De la Cruz car robbery gang.

The district director said the suspects were able to enter North Olympus, a gated subdivision, and stole a Nissan Urvan van with plate number ZAC 749 parked in front of the owner’s house.

The van’s alarm went off when the suspects tampered with it, alerting its owner, Johnny Jimenez. Police were told about the robbery through a call from the subdivision security guards.

The suspects drove through the subdivision gate and headed towards Quirino Avenue followed by a Toyota Tamaraw FX with plate number ULZ 88. Police learned later that it was the suspects’ backup vehicle.

The two suspects on board the Tamaraw FX abandoned the vehicle along Sauyo Road and transferred to the stolen Nissan Urvan and headed to Mindanao Avenue where police said they lost track of the vehicle.

Operatives next spotted the suspects as they alighted from a taxi along Sauyo Road. Ocampo’s companion, known only as Edwin, was able to escape.

Ocampo carried in his back pack three loaded .45-caliber pistols, including a gun with serial number 1240263, a fragmentation grenade, three sachets containing what could be shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), extra bullets, a glass cutter and assorted tools.

The stolen Nissan Urvan was later found in Barangay I. Rodriguez, Cubao in Quezon City.