Brod takes over Dominguez carjack gang

MANILA, Philippines - Is a younger brother of alleged carjack kings Raymond and Roger Dominguez now in charge of the gang his brothers reportedly led before they were put in jail?

Suspected car thief Arnel Torres, arrested in Bulacan last Tuesday, pointed to Ryan Dominguez as the one behind his group’s operation. Ryan remains at large.

Torres “alleged that the persons orchestrated the felonious acts are Ryan Dominguez, a younger brother of Roger and Raymond Dominguez, and Rolando Talban,” Quezon City Police District anti-carnapping chief Superintendent Ferdinand Villanueva said in a report to QCPD director Chief Superintendent George Regis.

Torres and two others were arrested when the QCPD and the Highway Patrol Group raided a warehouse in Calumpit town. Three vehicles and various spare parts were recovered.

Talban is the alleged henchman of brothers Raymond and Roger, who are in jail and facing trial for the killing of car dealer Venson Evangelista.

Talban remains at large but has been charged with car theft with homicide for reportedly shooting Evangelista. He is also suspected to have shot and killed government employee Teresita Teaño in a separate carjacking incident.

Last Tuesday’s raid started with a tip received by the QCPD that a Ford Everest was being kept in a compound in Barangay Kaniogan-1 in Calumpit. The Everest owned by Ronnie Navarette was never returned after it was rented on Oct. 31 by a certain Ryan Bautista or Jhun Henares.

Policemen spotted a Mitsubishi L-300 van driven by a man later identified as Torres, followed by a Honda motorcycle carrying the other arrested suspects, Antonio Garcia and Romnick Estrella.

The two vehicles eventually reached a compound and when its gate was opened, policemen saw a Ford Everest inside.

“The teams spotted the motorcycle’s back rider while in the act of fixing the license plate KDW-667 to the silver Ford Everest,” Villanueva said.

A spot check by the police with their records showed that the plate was assigned to a 2008 black Ford Everest.

Though police did not find Navarrete’s vehicle, the recovered Everest – registered to Reylex Lumelay – was carjacked in Pampanga last Nov. 4.

According to Villanueva, Torres claimed it was Ryan who allegedly paid him P110,000 to fabricate the identification of the Everest using the license plate KDW-667.

Torres, Garcia and Estrella have undergone inquest proceedings for violation of Republic Acts 6539, 8750, and 4136; Presidential Decree 1612 and Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code.

Ryan and alleged warehouse owner Carol Mutoc, who is also at large, were also charged.