Uber driver caught selling employer’s car

Dexter Tiongson

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Wednesday arrested an Uber driver along with his sibling after he allegedly tried to sell his employer’s car.

Dexter Tiongson, 41, and his brother Erwin, 46, were caught red-handed in an entrapment operation by the QCPD’s Anti-Carnapping Section (Ancar).

Also arrested in a follow-up operation was car parts dealer Abel Zamodio, 52, for buying the tires taken from the stolen car.
On Wednesday morning, Ancar received a tip that a black Toyota Vios was being sold by the brothers for P150,000. Undercover agents later met with the Tiongsons at the corner of Malumanay and Mapagsangguni streets, Barangay Malaya.

The black Vios (conduction sticker VQ3922) turned out to be the same car earlier reported missing by its owner, Joseph Griarte, a 36-year-old call center agent.

According to a report to Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, QCPD director, Griarte hired Dexter Tiongson on June 24 to drive the car as an Uber vehicle.

On June 30, Tiongson borrowed the car, claiming he needed it for an emergency, and promised to return it immediately.

But when Griarte called the suspect later in the evening, Tiongson said he could not return the car right away because his eyes were hurting.

Tiongson could no longer be reached on the phone the following day. This prompted Griarte to go to the address written on Tiongson’s NBI clearance, but the driver could not be found there.

During the entrapment, the Tiongsons presented the car but failed to show proof of ownership. When interrogated, they admitted selling the tires to Zamodio.