3 taxi robbers slain

MANILA, Philippines - Hours after Quezon City’s top police official ordered checkpoints set up for taxicabs used in heists, police officers killed three men who had stolen a taxi from its driver. 

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said the three suspects were slain at past 1 a.m. yesterday during an encounter along Mindanao Avenue.

On Wednesday, Pagdilao ordered station commanders and unit heads to intensify efforts to check taxicabs used in robberies. 

Pagdilao said the three men were in a stolen Arnaiz Transport taxi with plate number TYD-854 when they were spotted by police officers.

Pagdilao said the cab had been the subject of an alarm flashed to different police units after it was carjacked.

At around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, one of the men allegedly boarded the cab along Quezon Avenue and asked to be brought to Commonwealth Avenue. However, the two other suspects also boarded the vehicle.

Pagdilao said the suspects held the driver hostage for 30 minutes before dropping him off at the corner of Dapitan street and Araneta Avenue. 

The driver boarded another taxi and reported the incident to the QCPD Station 1. 

After the alarm was flashed, different police units were dispatched to locate the stolen cab. A team from the QCPD’s Special Operations Unit, led by Chief Inspector Richard Ang, spotted the cab along Mindanao Avenue at past 1 a.m. and tried to flag it down.

However, instead of stopping, the suspects, armed with revolvers, allegedly shot at the lawmen.