Man, taxi driver arrested for stealing scooter in QC 

A man and a taxi driver were arrested for alleged involvement in the theft of a scooter in Quezon City. 

According to Emil Sumangil’s report on “Saksi” on Wednesday, CCTV footage showed that a man got out of the taxi and went near a parking space for motorcycles. He can be seen observing his surroundings based on the footage. 

The man went back to the waiting taxi and got out again to hop on one of the parked scooters nearby. He effortlessly fled with the scooter, the report said. 

“Ang nangyari po ay sinira po yung mismong ignition switch niya para lang ma-start niya….Unattended po yung motor, so nadaanan po nitong grupo at ang modus po nila ay stolen while unattended,” said  PLt. Col. Jefry Gamboa, commander of Quezon City Police District Police Station 14.

(What happened was he destroyed the ignition switch to start it... The motorcycle was unattended, so this group happened upon it, and their modus was ‘stolen while unattended.’) 

“Ang ginagawa nila, may mga lookout sila tapos yung gagawin nung isa, ibababa po. Kapag clear yung lugar, kukunin  nila yung motor,” he added. 

(What they do is they have lookouts, and then the other one will be dropped off. When the area is clear, they will get the motorcycle.) 

The owner of the scooter sought help from the authorities. The police were able to trace the company that owns the taxi where the suspects boarded.

“Ang ginawa ng istasyon natin ay nakipag-coordinate sa mismong taxi operator at fortunately naman po, binigay ng taxi operator yung mismong nagmamaneho, yung taxi driver,” said Gamboa. 

(What our station did was coordinate with the taxi operator, and fortunately, the taxi operator gave us the information on the driver.) 

In a follow-up operation, the QCPD found the taxi used by the suspects. The driver, who was found sleeping inside the taxi, was interrogated by the police about the scooter. 

But the taxi driver denied being involved in the thievery. 

“Sabi nila balikan. Arkilahin daw nila ako papuntang [Barangay] Holy Spirit. Nung nasa Holy Spirit na kami, hindi ko alam kung ano yung ginagawa nila doon. Ang sabi nila, may kukunin lang daw silang motor. Tapos maya-maya po, pagka-parada ko, may kinuha silang motor,” the driver said. 

(They told me to go back. They said they would hire me to go to [Barangay] Holy Spirit. When we were in Holy Spirit, I didn't know what they were doing there. They said they were just going to get a motorcycle. Then, a little while later, after I parked, they took a motorcycle.) 

Further, the police also arrested one of the suspects who did not get out of the taxi at that time. Meanwhile, the other suspect is still at large.

The QCPD reminded the public to set up an alarm device or lock their motorcycle to prevent it from being stolen. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA Integrated News