Teen carjack suspect continues ‘family business’

MANILA, Philippines - One of two men who pretended to be anti-drug agents in a recent carjacking in Quezon City is allegedly the same teenager who figured, along with his parents, in past carjackings, officials said yesterday.

Mark Joseph Reyes, now believed to be 18 years old, was tagged in the carjacking of a white Ford Escape (TOR-614) in Barangay Socorro on the night of June 30, said Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano.

The sport utility vehicle (SUV) was taken from Roey Frilles at his house in Cubao, Albano said. 

QCPD deputy director for administration Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said Reyes was tagged, along with Christopher Ducot, in the carjacking incident. The two suspects were identified through the police’s rogues’ gallery.

 Pagdilao said the two men were allegedly the same ones who posed as operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), initially demanding that Frilles surrendered the illegal drugs supposedly in his possession.

Frilles, suspecting the men were not real PDEA agents, managed to dismantle one of the suspect’s guns, which turned out to be a replica. This prompted the other suspect to pistol-whip him before taking away the SUV.

Pagdilao said a case for car theft had been filed against Reyes and Ducot before the city prosecutor’s office.

Police records show Reyes had figured in several carjackings in the past perpetrated by the gang allegedly led by his father, Mark Lester, said Chief Inspector Roderick Tonga, who heads the QCPD’s anti-car theft section.

Past arrests

Reyes and his mother, Jasmin Liscano-Reyes, 33, were arrested in August 2011 following the theft of a black Toyota Fortuner (NOG-594) of Social Security System vice president Alfredo Villasanta in Quezon City.

Reyes was left behind while his father and two others drove away the SUV when village watchmen noticed the ongoing car theft. Jasmin and another woman were arrested when they appeared and tried to talk to the police on behalf of her son.

The vehicle was recovered after Jasmin broke down and told authorities where her husband took the vehicle. Reyes was turned over to social workers but was later released to his mother, who got out on bail.

In October 2011, Reyes, then 16 years old, was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives after he was arrested along EDSA near its intersection with Congressional Avenue for carrying a .38 caliber revolver and a fragmentation hand grenade.

Following the arrest, another complainant, Ruel Nolasco, also identified Reyes as the same person who, at gunpoint, allegedly carjacked his silver Toyota Hi-Lux (ZBT-387) in Angeles City, Pampanga that same month.