John O’s luxury van recovered

Police recovered yesterday the stolen Toyota Land Cruiser of Sen. John Osmeña at the parking lot of Nissan Cars EDSA in Balintawak, Quezon City.

A bag containing important documents was reportedly missing, along with the car’s license plates and a Senate sticker on the windshield.

The car was found Wednesday by a Nissan security guard, who called up police after becoming suspicious when the vehicle was still at the parking lot the following day.

Security guard Ronald Paje told police he had earlier seen the Toyota Land Cruiser parked in front of the Nissan showroom but nothing seemed to be unusual about it.

However, Paje said he became suspicious and reported the matter to police after he saw the vehicle the next day at the same spot.

Chief Superintendent Antonio Aguilar, criminal investigations chief of the Eastern Police District, took Joey Aguilar, Osmeña’s representative, to Camp Crame in Quezon City to identify the Land Cruiser.

The vehicle was towed to Camp Crame by traffic policemen yesterday afternoon.

Chief Inspector Eleuterio Gutierrez, chief of Task Force Limbas Special Operations Division, said Osmeña’s car was found at around 5:45 a.m. yesterday.

Police have not yet determined why the car was stolen.

Unidentified men took the car while parked near the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City two weeks ago while Osmeña was meeting with officials of the National Power Corp. in the hotel.

Osmeña reportedly fired his driver immediately after the incident. – Non Alquitran, Jaime Laude