Wanted car thief falls

After eluding authorities for almost nine years, one of the country’s most notorious car thieves was arrested yesterday by members of the Parañaque City police force.

Senior Police Officer 3 Elpidio Soquiña, officer-in-charge of the Parañaque Anti-Carnapping and Follow-up Unit, identified the suspect as Napoleon Chavez, 30, of 47 Palm Springs, Barangay Merville Subdivision in Parañaque City.

Soquiña’s team swooped down on one of the suspect’s safehouses at No. 13 Carmelite street, also in Barangay Merville at around 12:16 a.m.

The police official said they conducted an operation in the area after receiving information on the suspect’s whereabouts.

Charges are now being readied against Chavez, who had been in hiding since 1996. His cohort Alvin Magpayo was arrested earlier and is being held at a Muntinlupa City jail.

"In their operations, the suspects usually target parked Mitsubishi Pajeros," Soquiña said.

Available figures from the Southern Police District’s Anti-Carnapping Unit showed that in August 2005, a total of 39 vehicles were stolen. A total of 33 vehicles were reported stolen in the previous month.

Manuel Araneta, SPD Anti-Carnapping Unit statistician, noted that 31 out of the 39 missing vehicles were motorcycles.

Senior Police Officer 1 Daniel del Rosario, an operative of the SPD Anti-Carnapping Unit, said they have been conducting daily rounds in the different cities and municipalities in southern Metro to effectively prevent car theft and carjacking incidents.

"We have set up checkpoints, especially in areas where car thefts are reportedly rampant. We are also implementing "Oplan Sita," wherein we stop cars without license plates," Del Rosario said.