Truck driver shot dead in Port Area hijack attempt

Two armed men shot dead a truck driver in a botched attempt to hijack a truckload of imported steel billets in Port Area, Manila yesterday.

Police said the suspects tried to commandeer the truck bearing the cargo and shot the driver when he refused to surrender the wheel.

The suspects scampered after the shooting, leaving the driver dead but the truck helper was unharmed.

Officer-on-case Detective Raul Olavario identified the slain driver as Rosalio Hitosis, 40, of 225 Jacinto st., Tondo. The victim sustained a gunshot wound in the right armpit.

Investigations showed that the victim and a helper were on board a six-wheeler truck, with license plate TEA-291, when two armed men ordered them to stop at the corner of 2nd st. and Anda Circle in Port Area.

The suspects boarded the truck and ordered the driver to hand over the wheel, but the driver stepped on the gas, prompting one of the armed men to fire at the driver.

As the victim lay bloodied, one of the suspects took away his cellular phone and a wallet containing P1,500, Olavario said.

The truck helper, whose identity investigators temporarily withheld from the media for security reasons, provided the police with a sketches of the gunmen.