Dominguez carjack group still kicking, cop warns

MANILA, Philippines - Though Raymond Dominguez will spend up to 30 years behind bars for car theft, the gang he is said to lead can still function while he is in prison, a police official said yesterday.

Superintendent Ferdinand Villanueva, head of the Quezon City Police District’s anti-car theft unit, said it has been proven that the gang could function even with Raymond and his brother Roger now imprisoned.

“It’s been proven that the group could operate through their trusted allies,” Villanueva said.

The brothers are facing car theft with homicide charges before a court in Quezon City in connection with the violent death of car dealer Venson Evangelista.

The two are facing a separate case for the death of car dealer Emerson Lozano and his companion, Ernani Sensil.

But even with the brothers behind bars, another carjacking happened in which government employee Teresita Teano was killed. The crime was attributed to the brothers’ alleged henchman, Rolando Talban, who was also tagged in the killing of Evangelista. Talban remains at large.

“Law enforcers should not relax,” Villanueva said in an interview.

A Bulacan court recently sentenced Raymond to 17 years to 30 years in prison for carjacking Dante Escoto’s black Toyota Fortuner, worth P1.1 million, in Marilao, Bulacan on Jan. 14, 2010.

Villanueva said Raymond still faces at least 18 other carjacking cases.

Villanueva warned that the Dominguez gang members could stage more carjackings now that they need money to spring their bosses out of jail or spend for Raymond’s appeal.

He said jail authorities should make sure that Raymond remains “incommunicado” while in jail. He said even those visiting him should be subjected to profiling.

Villanueva cited that the primary witness in the Venson Evangelista case, Alfred Mendiola – who admitted to posing as the buyer of the SUV that Evangelista was selling on the day he was abducted – was recruited by the gang while he was in detention.