Police kill 2 suspected motorcycle thieves

MANILA, Philippines—Two suspected motorcycle thieves were killed in a shootout late Wednesday night with police anti-car theft operatives after a brief chase in Manila’s Sampaloc district.

The third suspected thief managed to escape on a motorcycle used by Manila Police District’s Station 4 as bait in its anti-car theft operations.

“It is unfortunate but the suspect who escaped was able to steal the motorcycle owned by one of our policemen,” Station 4 commander Superintendent Jemar Modequillo told the Inquirer. He said follow-up operations were under way against the alleged thief.

Modequillo said the police had been using the motorcycle the last two days as bait for thieves preying on unattended vehicles along CM Recto Avenue in Sampaloc but admitted that they miscalculated how fast the thieves can operate.

“It only takes seconds for these thieves to steal motorcycles. Once they park beside the motorcycle, they are already able to leave with the vehicle,” he said.

Modequillo told the Inquirer that they were able to catch up with the motorcycle thieves because his men were already in place when they arrived around 8 p.m. Wednesday on CM Recto Avenue to take the bait.

He revealed that three men arrived aboard a Honda Wave motorcycle (ZN-3761) and stopped near the parked motorcycle. Two of the three men alighted from the motorcycle and got aboard the bait.

It was then that the operatives announced the bust, the man sitting alone on one of the motorcycles traded shots with the policemen while the two men riding tandem fled aboard the stolen vehicle.

Anti-car theft policemen shot it out with the armed thief, resulting in the suspect’s death, while other operatives pursued the two fleeing thieves.

The policemen caught up with the fleeing duo on Piy Margal Street near AH Lacson Avenue.  The motorcycle passenger started firing at the pursuing policemen, prompting them to retaliate, hitting the shooter in the body.

As the badly wounded thief fell off the stolen motorcycle, the third suspect escaped.

MPD homicide section investigators described one of the two slain men as being between 20 and 25 years old, of medium build, and sported a crucifix tattoo on the chest. The other was described as between 25 and 30 years old and slim.—<strong><em>With Azer N. Parrocha, intern</em></strong>