Romulo carjacking suspect shot dead

MANILA, Philippines - The man who allegedly led a carjacking gang tagged in the theft of the vehicles of former foreign affairs secretary Roberto Romulo and the father of actor Derek Ramsey was killed in an alleged shootout in Makati City yesterday.

Outgoing National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Roberto Rosales said Ivan Padilla sustained a gunshot wound in the head and was declared dead on arrival at the Ospital ng Makati.

Rosales said Padilla’s companion, a certain Mark, was arrested and is now being interrogated.

“We have broken the backbone of the car theft syndicate with the neutralization of Padilla and the arrest of its three members,” said Rosales as he dispatched tracker teams to hunt down the other gang members.

Padilla and another gang member, a certain Christopher, escaped a police dragnet in Quezon City Thursday but two of their companions – Dale Alimagno, 22, and Glenn del Castillo, 31 – were arrested.

Padilla’s getaway vehicle was recovered by Senior Superintendent Procopio Lipana, San Juan police chief, parked at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center last Friday.

Lipana said the gold Toyota Camry with license plate 6 bore two bullet holes and found inside were the driver’s license of Padilla and documents of Romulo’s vehicle.

The Camry was being used by the vice president of Toshiba Philippines and was stolen from its driver at gunpoint in Makati City last July 3.

Superintendent Leo Francisco, head of the NCRPO regional police intelligence and operation unit (RPIOU), said he dispatched his men to southern Metro Manila after an informant reported that Padilla and a companion sniffed shabu in Anabu, Imus town in Cavite and described the vehicle the suspects were using.

The team, headed by Superintendent Maristelo Manalo of the NCRPO’s anti-carjacking unit, spotted the Toyota Vios (ZAP-355) along Gen. Luna street in Makati City.

Manalo said they tried to flag down the vehicle but Padilla drove off, triggering a five-minute running gunbattle. Padilla’s car came to a halt after smashing into several parked cars, Manalo said.

“He was like Ivler who decided to fight it out in the end,” said Manalo, apparently referring to road rage murder suspect Jason Ivler who was wounded in a shootout with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Padilla was still breathing when NCRPO operatives rushed him to the hospital. He yielded a .38 caliber pistol, a .22 caliber pistol and a hand grenade. Police also seized the Toyota Vios, which the gang had stolen at gunpoint from its owner, call center agent Alejandre Adao, in Las Piñas City.

Rosales said they are still determining whether Padilla and his gang have something to do with the so-called Alabang Boys, Dominguez group, Valle Verde gang and Bundol gang.

“Padilla’s gang members also came from well-to-do families like the other groups, except for the Bundol gang,” said Rosales, noting that Padilla’s parents are also in jail on drug charges.

The modus operandi of the gang, according to Rosales, is to snatch a vehicle and use it in another car theft operation. The suspects were selling a Toyota Camry for P225,000 when NCRPO policemen arrested them in Quezon City last Thursday, he said.