QCPD busts bukas kotse gang

The Quezon City Police District has busted a major group operating in Metro Manila involved in stealing valuables from parked vehicles with the recent arrest of three of its members.

The three suspected members of a “basag kotse” gang – Rudel Flaviano, Jiovanne Nuevas and Robert Fernandez were arrested after they were traced through the get-away vehicle they used in their recent operations, said Inspector Angelo Nicolas, chief of the QCPD’s Anti-Carnapping Section. They are facing charges of robbery, Nicolas said.

“This is a big group. According to Flaviano, their operation covers the whole of Metro Manila and even nearby provinces like Laguna, Cavite and OIongapo,” Nicolas told The STAR in an interview.

Nicolas hinted that based on the admission of the suspects, a “slow day” for them would include at least three stolen laptops. The group’s modus operandi involves smashing the glass window of a parked vehicle for them to be able to steal valuables inside the car.

Nicolas said the three were traced after a complainant went to give to the police the license plates attached to a Toyota Revo (XSB-456) used by the suspects when they stole a laptop from the complainant’s parked Honda Civic in Barangay Teachers Village last Tuesday.

Cornello Cruz II said the alarm of his car sounded, prompting him to come out of his residence. This caused the suspects to flee.

Nicolas said a check with the Land Transportation Office revealed that the Toyota Revo and its plates were registered to a certain Zandro Tobias, who is residing in Antipolo, Rizal. When they found Tobias, the vehicle owner said Flaviano, who was referred to him by an acquaintance, indeed has been renting his vehicle for a month supposedly for out-of-town trips. Tobias said he only meets Flaviano every time he gives the owner payment for the rented vehicle.

As this developed, one Christophane Gayuma sought the assistance of the police after he was also victimized by Flaviano’s group last Wednesday night.

The group stole Gayuma’s wallet, which he left inside his parked Nissan Sentra. The suspects used the same Toyota Revo, whose same license plates were also recognized by Gayuma.

Nicolas’ unit  immediately set up an entrapment operation and asked Tobias to ask for payment from Flaviano, pretending that he urgently needed money that day. The two met at a fastfood joint in Taytay, Rizal at 9 p.m. last Thursday, where Flaviano was arrested. Flaviano then pointed to the police the whereabouts of Nuevas and Fernandez in Angono, Rizal.

Nicolas said the three suspects were immediately recognized by both Cruz and Gayuma. Add to this, Cruz’s laptop and Gayuma’s wallet were recovered in the possession of Nuevas and Fernandez at the time they were arrested.

“When I verified, I found out that these three suspects are also wanted by the Mandaluyong police in relation to a similar incident last March 1 when they victimized an IT consultant,” Nicolas said.