Thief caught with stolen trike in Malabon

A suspected member of a car theft gang was arrested while trying to escape with a stolen tricycle in Malabon City past midnight yesterday.

Gilbert Ojeda, 31, jobless, and a resident of Barangay Libis, Binangonan, Rizal, was caught by the police as he fled with a tricycle owned by Generoso de la Cruz at around 12:45 a.m. in Barangay Dampalit.

The driver of the stolen tricycle, Reynaldo Rivera, 36, left his vehicle on Damson Street to buy something at a nearby sari-sari store.

A fellow tricycle driver, Alvin de Jesus, 36, who witnessed the theft, yelled at other drivers to chase after the suspect. De Jesus’ scream also alarmed Rivera.

The drivers and some bystanders ran after the speeding suspect.

Ojeda had not gone far when he ran into a patrol team of police officers and barangay watchmen, led by Police Officer 1 Edison de la Cruz and Francisco Benito Jr.

The suspect was caught driving the black Kawasaki motorcycle (PV-7096) and its sidecar.

The suspect was detained yesterday at the Malabon City police detention cell while charges were being readied against him.

The local police suspect that Ojeda could be a member of an organized group of car thieves operating in the northern part of Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The police are still looking into Ojeda’s background. – Pete Laude