Well-spoken carjackers target luxury vehicles

MANILA, Philippines - Carjackers who are “English-speaking” and “rich-looking” are targeting dealers who trade in luxury vehicles, a police official and an anti-carjacking crusader said yesterday.

A Lexus and a Range Rover were carjacked during test drives in the past two weeks and there was an attempt to steal an Audi from a showroom in Taguig, according to Chief Superintendent Arrazad Subong, head of the Highway Patrol Group.

He believes the stolen vehicles would be smuggled out of the Philippines.

“No one would buy those cars here. Aside from the fact that they are really expensive, it would be easy to track these stolen vehicles here,” Subong said.

Car dealer Arsenio Evangelista compared the modus operandi in the two cases to that of his murdered son, Venson, also a car dealer.

“It’s like Venson’s case all over again,” he said.

Members of a carjacking gang led by brothers Raymond and Roger Dominguez killed Venson during a test drive of a Toyota Land Cruiser he had been trying to sell, according to slain prosecution witness Alfred Mendiola.

The main differences are that no one was killed in the two recent cases and that the carjackers are after far more luxurious cars, Evangelista said, adding that he also believes the stolen vehicles would be taken out of the country.

Linked

The brand new Range Rover, worth P8.8 million, was taken during a test drive from the car dealership owned by Mady Barretto in Barangay White Plains, Quezon City Sunday afternoon.

The carjacker arrived at the dealership in a black 2013 Lexus RX350 that carried a congressional plate, Evangelista said. “The guy was English-speaking and well-dressed,” he added, quoting accounts from the Barretto family.

The man, who claimed he saw an advertisement online, had given a check worth P2.5 million as deposit Sunday morning. When he returned a few hours later, he asked to take the Rover out for a test drive. He was accompanied by an employee of the Baretto family.

“It was a Sunday and there was no way to verify the check,” Evangelista noted. The check eventually bounced, according to Subong.

When the suspect and the employee reached a gas station at the corner of EDSA and Connecticut Avenue in San Juan City, the suspect told the employee to buy coffee. As the latter got out, the suspect quickly drove off.

According to Subong, the Lexus was the same one taken from a shop in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. The Lexus was “demo unit” or one taken out for testing by prospective buyers.

Another car dealership could have been targeted before the Lexus RX350 was taken. On the same day the Lexus was stolen, a call was received by an agent for Audi at their showroom in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.

Audi sales director Lito Jose said the caller wanted to test drive an Audi Q5, worth P4.4 million.

Jose said the agent asked the caller to present a driver’s license when they meet but the caller never showed up.