POLICE arrested on Sunday a man believed to be behind around 20 car theft incidents in which the victims were taxi drivers tricked into leaving their vehicles unattended to do a favor for the suspect.
Michael Urmeneta was caught by authorities on Katipunan Avenue in Barangay White Plains, Quezon City, following a brief chase around 6 a.m. on Sunday. The suspect was also the target of a police operation after he held up two taxi drivers on Friday.
Chief Insp. Joey Arandia, head of the Quezon City Police District’s (QCPD) anti-car theft division, said that the 21-year-old suspect usually preyed on taxi drivers in the wee hours of the morning.
According to Arandia, once the suspect got to his supposed destination, he would ask the taxi driver to buy him a bottle of water or pick up a package. Once his victim obliged and left the cab, the suspect would drive off with the vehicle.
Arandia said that when they asked the suspect why he took the cabs, stole the drivers’ valuables and then abandoned the vehicles, the suspect told them that he had a “passion [for] crime.”
On Sunday morning, when the taxi (TYW 475) driven by Nathaniel Tag-an reached Urmeneta’s supposed destination at the corner of J.P. Rizal and Castro Streets in Barangay Milagrosa, the suspect asked Tag-an to ring the doorbell in one of the buildings to signal his girlfriend to come out.
Tag-an said he initially refused but later agreed when Urmeneta said he could not let his girlfriend’s father see him.
Tag-an sought the help of PO1 Aiko Crerezo and PO1 Agapito Gatulla who were patrolling the area on foot when the suspect started to drive off with his taxi. Crerezo said that the suspect almost ran them over when they tried to stop him.
The policemen and Tag-an then boarded a taxi that happened to pass by the area and gave chase, catching up with the suspect near White Plains.
Senior Supt. Joselito Esquivel Jr., QCPD deputy district director for operations, said that Urmeneta was the man who took on Friday the taxi cabs owned by Antonio Cruz and Raymundo Evangelista.
The vehicles were eventually recovered in Barangays Ugong Norte and West Triangle, respectively.
According to Esquivel, they believed that Urmeneta was behind the around 20 other car theft cases in the metropolis which occurred over the last two months. He explained that in these incidents the suspect used the same modus operandi.
He called on Urmeneta’s other victims to call them at 0917-6348521 to further strengthen the case against the suspect.