As NCR carnapping declines, police warn of new 'bump-and-ride' method

The carjacking on Regalado Avenue in Quezon City early Friday was any parent's nightmare – the vehicle stolen in broad daylight had small children in it on their way to school.

The police have cited the "bump-and-ride" incident as a new method that motorists need to be wary of. The driver taking the kids to school had alighted from his vehicle to check the damage from a bump from behind. A carjacker rushed into the driver's seat and whisked both car and kids away.

Carnapping gangs may be experimenting with new techniques after police have attacked traditional modes of vehicle theft and their criminal practitioners.

Incidents of carnapping in Metro Manila went down by 30 percent for the first five months of the year, from 428 in the same period last year to 297 in 2013, according to the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group. The common method is stealing parked cars.

This June alone, the police recorded 58 carnapping incidents – 23 involved four-wheel vehicles and 35 motorcycles, according to a "24 Oras" report on Friday.

Metro Manila had the most number of car thefts, followed by Calabarzon, Central Luzon, and the Ilocos Region.

Quezon City recorded 90 carnapping cases from January to June this year, the most number in the NCR.

Beware fender benders

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Velasquez, public information chief of the PNP Highway Patrol Group, urged the public to be wary of the new bump-and-ride" modus operandi used by carnappers.

A group of carnappers in a vehicle would rear-end a motorist's car, causing the motorist to quickly exit the vehicle.

The carnappers would then force their way into the motorist's car and drive away.

"Kapag nangyari sa inyo 'yung mga ganun, all you have to do is to immediately close your doors and windows, especially when you are with your family, with your kids," Velasquez said.

This method of thievery can also turn into a robbery, or a kidnapping of the vehicle's passengers.

Such incidents are often on busy streets, even flyovers and underpasses where there are fewer police officers and traffic enforcers.  — Marc jayson Cayabyab/DVM/HS, GMA News