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DAGUPAN CITY — Five suspected car thieves were killed in a gun battle with the police in Urdaneta City on Sunday morning, according to Senior Supt. Ronald Oliver Lee, Pangasinan police director.
They were in a stolen vehicle when they were flagged down at a check point in Barangay Nancalobasaan at 2:30 a.m.
Lee said the police gave chase when the car drove through, and engaged its passengers in a gunfight.
Lee also said the five fatalities have not yet been identified.
Citing documents retrieved from the stolen car, the suspects were alleged members of the “Rent-Tangay,” a criminal gang operating in Metro Manila, the Cordillera, the Calabarzon and the Ilocos regions.
Lee said the group was suspected of stealing vans they leased in Pangasinan, killing the drivers in the process. Two rent-a-van drivers were found dumped in Manaoag and Binalonan towns last year, he said.
The local police were alerted about the car thieves who were driving through Pangasinan province from Baguio City.
Recovered from the car of the slain gang members were four caliber .45 pistols, police uniforms, and substance believed to be shabu. JE/rga