Carjacker who attacked cop tagged in similar case

MANILA, Philippines - A carjacker who attacked a Quezon City policeman and left him for dead in Arayat, Pampanga on March 24 could be the same man who stole a businessman’s car two days before in the same town, police officials said yesterday.

A man who identified himself as Ronald Dalusong Jr. rented a Toyota Innova from Police Officer 2 Romeo Ramal on March 24 and a Hyundai Starex van from a businessman in Urdaneta, Pangasinan on March 24, according to Ramal’s boss, Chief Inspector Roderick Tonga.

Dalusong and a companion, who is in his late 30s, repeatedly stabbed Ramal, who was driving the Innova, and stole the vehicle when they passed through a dimly lit area in Arayat.

“He didn’t think that the guy (Dalusong) was a carjacker. He was in his 50s or 60s. He also appeared lanky,” Tonga said. “But when the carjacking was declared, (Ramal) thought he was going to be killed.”

Tonga heads the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) anti-car theft section, to which Ramal belongs. Ramal was off duty at the time of the carjacking and had placed his police uniform and service firearm in a bag that he tucked in the vehicle’s trunk. The bag was no longer there when the Innova was recovered.

Tonga told The STAR in an interview that the businessman “would have been stabbed just like Ramal if not for (his) nine-year-old child, who was with him and pleaded” with the carjackers to spare his father.

Ready-made deed of sale

Ramal, after sustaining several stab wounds in the head and body, participated in a stakeout on his vehicle, which was found at the parking lot of a mall along North EDSA, QCPD director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano said.

When no one showed up to claim the vehicle after one week of surveillance, police officers recovered the Innova on April 1. A would-be buyer, who said he was offered the Innova for P280,000, told police about the location of the vehicle.

“When we recovered the Innova, there was a ready-made deed of sale that was even notarized,” Tonga said.

“It (deed of sale) even bore Ramal’s (forged) signature. They were that organized,” he added.

QCPD deputy director for administration Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao believes the carjackers decided to let go of the stolen vehicle after finding out its owner is a policeman.