Dominguez registered stolen car in kid's name?

MANILA, Philippines - Did suspected carjack gang leader Roger Dominguez use his daughter’s name in registering a vehicle he was driving at the time of his arrest?

If that is the case, then Dominguez could be held liable for child abuse, a police official said yesterday.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, deputy head of the Quezon City Police District’s Anti-Carnapping Unit, said they are checking reports that the person named Jillian Crisostomo is Dominguez’s five-year-old daughter. Crisostomo’s name cropped up when policemen checked the registration papers of a Mitsubishi Outlander that Dominguez was driving when he was arrested on Feb. 10.

Dominguez reportedly made the admission Wednesday when prosecutors asked about Crisostomo during the preliminary investigation of the case against him in relation to the death of car dealer Venson Evangelista.

“He (Dominguez) could be charged with child abuse if he had used the child’s name,” Marcelo said, adding the charges could be worse if the registration had been falsified.

Initially, information obtained by the police showed that Crisostomo was Dominguez’s girlfriend.

Dominguez was arrested after driving against traffic along Timog Avenue in Quezon City. He was nabbed along with a companion, Jayson Miranda. Their arrest led policemen to a hotel in Mandaluyong City where the two had stayed.

Recovered from hotel’s parking area was a Toyota Land Cruiser that Evangelista was driving at that time of his abduction. Policemen also found inside the Land Cruiser a parking ticket at a mall in Makati City that bore the license plates of the Outlander.

Dominguez and his younger brother, Raymond, were implicated by two suspects who had surrendered earlier. Raymond has turned himself over to the police.