QC cops kill 3 in taxi robbery

THREE car theft suspects aboard a stolen taxi were killed in Quezon City around midnight Sunday after they reportedly refused to stop at a police checkpoint and instead fired at the officers.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director, Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, said one of the suspects was Archilles Velasco, 22, of Barangay Pasong Tamo, while the two others remain unidentified at press time.

The three men were said to have exchanged fire with members of the QCPD’s Anti-Carnapping Unit (Ancar) headed by Insp. Manuel de la Cruz in front of Veterans Memorial Medical Center on North Avenue.

A fourth suspect managed to escape.

An Ancar report said the suspects hailed the taxi driven by Alberto Topacio on E. Rodriguez Avenue and asked to be taken to UP Village.

But while passing through Kamias near the corner of Edsa, they forced Topacio out of the cab at gunpoint.

The driver was able to report the incident immediately to Camp Karingal, the QCPD headquarters.

Officers alerted to the theft spotted the cab on North Avenue and ordered it to pull over, but the vehicle took a U-turn slot in front of VMMC.

It was eventually cornered in front of Manila Seedling Bank, where the “shootout” erupted.

Three .45-caliber pistols were recovered from the slain suspects, the QCPD said.