Dominguez gang henchman falls

MANILA, Philippines - An alleged henchman of ”carjack kings” Raymond and Roger Dominguez, who had evaded authorities for more than a year despite having been accused of being the gunman in at least three high-profile carjacking cases, was finally arrested in Cavite.

This was reported Friday night by car dealer Arsenio Evangelista, whose son Venson, was killed in January last year.

The Quezon City Police District has confirmed that the man arrested in Cavite is indeed Rolando Talban, and said it has sent a team to the Cavite provincial police to serve him an arrest warrant.

Talban, who had given a different name, was arrested on Wednesday for attempted hijacking and illegal possession of a firearm. The following day, he was identified as the same suspect in a string of carjacking cases and high-profile killings in Metro Manila.

Talban is the alleged gunman in the killings of Venson, fellow car dealer Emerson Lozano and government employee Teresita Teaño.

Citing a report from the police, Arsenio said Talban was arrested by the police following a shooting in Barangay Burol, Dasmariñas Wednesday, wherein he was injured. It was reportedly a failed attempt to hijack a truck.

Policemen in Dasmariñas responded to the scene, which is in front of an elementary school, and found there a man who sustained injuries in different parts of his body.

According to the report, the man – who identified himself was Wilson Mendoza of Nasugbu, Batangas – was beaten by bystanders in the area. But policemen found in his possession a .45 caliber pistol, a black police jacket, a megaphone, a siren and cable straps.

They also found inside a gray Toyota Innova (TIV-542) Robert Ramos and Leodegario Dimayuga, Jr., who sustained a gunshot wound in his right thigh after allegedly being shot by the arrested suspect. Dimayuga was the driver of the truck.

The following day, policemen from the Highway Patrol Group went to the Dasmariñas police station to check on the suspect. It was then that HPG operatives found out he was the same man wanted for a series of high-profile carjacking cases in the metropolis.

Apart from his physical appearance, Talban was identified through marks on his body, including scars on his left chest and thigh from gunshot wounds he sustained during an encounter in Quezon City with the police that led to his last arrest back in 2010.

Policemen from the HPG also noted the “Superman” tattoo on his left shoulder and his tribal tattoo.