4 carjack suspects killed in Taguig shootout

Four suspected carjackers were killed in an encounter with policemen in Taguig City early morning yesterday.

Inspector Celso Rodriguez, chief of the Investigation Division of the Taguig police station, identified two of the slain suspects as Gona Isao, 45, married, a resident of Murphy, Quezon City; and Geraldo Moster, 31, a resident of Lipa City, Batangas. The two other suspects have not been identified.

In his report, Rodriguez said a team composed of members of Task Force (TF) Limbas were conducting anti-carjacking operations near the area when they encountered the suspects in a stolen vehicle around 2 a.m. near the Sampaguita Bridge along C-5 Road in Barangay Ususan.    

The team, led by Senior Inspector Julius Bernados, said they were manning a chokepoint at the intersection of Buting and Kalayaan Road in Makati City when they spotted the vehicle – a copper orange Mitsubishi Adventure (XRS-951), allegedly bearing a “hot plate.”  The lawmen followed the car to check on its registration but upon reaching the Sampaguita Bridge, its passengers got out and fired at the policemen, triggering a shootout.

Three of the suspects were killed on the spot while a fourth was pronounced dead on arrival at the Rizal Medical Center in Pasig City.  

The task force reported the incident to their office in Camp Crame. It was learned that the registered plate number of the Mitsubishi Adventure had earlier been reported to them as belonging to another vehicle, a Toyota Revo. The “hot” car was brought to the task force’s office in Camp Crame.

Crime scene investigators from the Southern Police District recovered three .45 caliber pistols, two Nokia cell phones, identification cards of two of the suspects, and several spent M-16, nine-millimeter and .45 caliber shells, as well as two hand grenades.

Traffic Management Group director Chief Superintendent Perfecto Palad said the slain suspects were behind the rash of carjacking and highway robbery cases in southern Luzon and Metro Manila.

Palad said Moster and Isao had been previously arrested for carjacking and hijacking by the National Bureau of Investigation and were the subjects of arrest warrants issued by a Lipa City court.

He said his men have been waiting for the suspects at the chokepoint for three days, following a tip from an informant that they would pass by the area to commit crimes.