QC cops round up rent-a-car thieves

Intelligence operatives of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) recovered two vehicles stolen from car rental companies and rounded up three suspected car thieves following a three-week operation in the cities of Antipolo and Taguig.

Superintendent Rodolfo Jaraza, chief of the QCPD intelligence division, identified the arrested suspect as Julio Arlante, 36, native of Pamplona Cagayan, and resident of Enlisted Personnel Village in Taguig. Also taken into custody was Gregorio Tawawa, 32, and his wife Jennifer, residents of Kingsville Subdivision in Antipolo City.

In his report to QCPD director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan, Jaraza said the suspects’ modus operandi was to pose as agents of big corporations and avail of car rental services before disappearing with the vehicles.

The group’s latest victim was the Carland Rent-a-Car company located on Scout Ramos street in Barangay Sacred Heart, Quezon City, where Arlante rented a Honda City and a Toyota Corolla last Sept. 28.

Consuelo Susara, owner of the car rental company, sought police assistance after Arlante, who paid P8,000 for the three-day rental of the two cars, failed to return the vehicles.

The QCPD anti-car theft unit immediately flashed a general alarm for the two missing cars.

Jaraza said his men conducted follow-up operations in several areas where the suspect was reportedly spotted.

Last Friday, the lawmen swooped down on a house in Enlisted Personnel Village, where Arlante was caught in possession of the Honda City.

Another follow-up operation led police to Antipolo, where the Tawawa couple was arrested with the stolen Corolla.

The suspects where brought to the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Arlante was charged with two counts of estafa with a P40,000 bail bond for each count.

Jaraza, however, said that inquest prosecutor Allesandro Jurada recommended a further investigation of the Tawawa couple and their release from the police custody.

"The recommendation was approved by the Chief Inquest Division of the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office," Jaraza said.