Towing crew booked for carjacking

A timely report to the police by a mother led to the arrest of four men who forcibly towed her daughter’s stalled car in Quezon City early Wednesday night.

The four were charged with carjacking for taking the car away despite protests from its owner.

Superintendent Bernabe Balba, District Intelligence Investigation Division (DIID), issued a general alarm after STAR employee Melita Dioso reported that a Toyota Corolla sedan driven by her son, Regidor, was forcibly taken by four men in a tow truck.

He was accompanied by his brother Duke, their sister, Christine, and her husband Kristoffer.

The car had developed engine trouble along Commonwealth Avenue at around 7 p.m. Four men alighted from a tow truck, owned by JMF Towing Service, as the driver tried to restart the engine. The tow truck had no license plate.

The four – Santiago Sera, 25; Arsenio Garcia Jr., 38; Louie Jay Manalo, 18; and Juanito Cartoner, 41 – took over and took the car away, with Regidor and Christine in it, and left the two others behind. The two at first ran after the truck and then managed to get a taxi.

Christine phoned her mother at the STAR for help. She reported her location as the tow truck continued to speed away. Dioso in turn called the Quezon City Police District for assistance and Balba called a citywide alarm.

Police "choke points" – set up in key areas as part of QCPD chief Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula’s new crime prevention strategy – were alerted for the tow truck.

A police car spotted the truck along Commonwealth 10 minutes after the alarm was called and the truck was ordered to pull over. Instead, the truck sped up towards Fairview Market, prompting the police cruiser to give chase and call for backup.

Other police cars responded and intercepted the truck, cornering the four men. Anti-carjacking operatives led by Inspector Nicolas, chief of the QCPD anti carjacking unit, arrested the four and brought them to the headquarters for questioning.

The four asked for a settlement after they were slapped with carjacking charges. The victim’s family is currently considering whether or not to pursue the case.

Motorists interviewed by the STAR said illegal towing remains rampant in Metro Manila despite complaints from the public. Car thieves are also known to pose as tow truck crews. "You just alight from your car, you’ll get towed," according to one taxi driver.