Master car thief falls in Manila

One of Manila’s most wanted car thieves, responsible for a series of car and motorcycle thefts in the country’s capital, has been arrested, resulting in the recovery of two stolen vehicles during a follow-up operation.

The arrest of John Henson, 28, of San Miguel, Manila, was an offshoot of the directive of Manila Police District (MPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong to find the man behind the growing number of vehicle thefts in the city.

Henson was arrested last July 14 near Malacañang for the theft of a parked motorcycle, according to MPD-Anti Carnapping Section chief Senior Inspector Leopoldo Mangilinan.

A set of car keys and a cell phone were recovered from the suspect.

"My instincts, plus the ease by which he was able to start the stolen motorcycle made me deduce that he was no ordinary car thief," Mangilinan revealed.

After tactical interrogation, the suspect revealed that he had stolen five cars and three motorcycles in just a span of one month, Mangilinan said.

The suspect tagged one Eric Baluyot as his financier who was responsible for disposing of the stolen vehicles.

At the same time, he pointed to the whereabouts of two of the stolen cars.

An anti-car theft team, composed of PO3 Michael Pornillos, PO2 Eric Peralta, PO2 James Rivera and PO2 Jonas de la Cruz later recovered a red Toyota Corolla (PNL-324) and a gray Nissan Maxima (PHX-379) at an abandoned house in Tuao town in Cagayan province.

The rest of the vehicles was being kept by Baluyot, according to the suspect.

Mangilinan formed a team of operatives to hunt down Baluyot, while owners of the stolen cars were informed of the recovery. – Nestor Etolle