Carjack suspects presented defense before ambush

MANILA, Philippines - Carjacking suspect Mark Joseph Reyes and his mother Jasmin had presented their defense on the cases filed against them before they were killed in an ambush along Elliptical Road in Quezon City on Tuesday.

The court calendar of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 94 showed that Tuesday’s schedule was for the defense to present its initial evidence in connection with the car theft and illegal possession of firearms charges.

Mother and son were charged for violating the anti-car theft law. The younger Reyes and a certain Arlene Juaniza were charged with illegal possession of firearms.

Police said Juaniza, who also attended the hearing, is not Jasmin’s cousin who initially was with them in the cab prior to the shooting. The cousin got off the cab outside the Quezon City hall complex.

Court employees confirmed that the hearing pushed through, but refused to provide details. The case was raffled to the family court under Judge Roslyn Rabara-Tria because Mark Joseph was a minor at the time of his arrest.

Months before they were ambushed, Mark Joseph and his mother were arrested at their alleged hideout in Baliwag, Bulacan that led to the seizure of a number of stolen vehicles and raids on other lairs of the group, a police official told The STAR.

Senior Inspector Rolando Lorenzo, head of the anti-car theft unit of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said the police operation last December resulted in the recovery of some 20 stolen vehicles.

Lorenzo said Mark Joseph and his mother were charged with car theft but the fiscal recommended only cases for violation of the anti-fencing law.

The two posted bail a month after their arrest, according to Lorenzo.

Carjack ring leader still missing

Lorenzo said the police operation in Baliwag crippled the carjacking group allegedly led by Mark Joseph’s father, Mark Lester.

Mark Lester remains at-large and faces a string of carjacking cases. 

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano said Mark Lester has yet to come out despite the death of his son and wife.

Albano said they are still establishing the motive behind the ambush.

Police are looking into the possibility that the killing could have been related to their carjacking activities.

‘Teen carjacker’

Mark Joseph was first apprehended in August 2011 for the carjacking of the Toyota Fortuner of Social Security System vice president Alfredo Villasanta  in Quezon City. He was only 16 at that time.

He was arrested after his father drove off the sport utility vehicle, leaving Mark Joseph behind. His mother was also arrested when she came to his rescue.

Mark Joseph was arrested again in October 2011 for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. It was supposed to be a non-bailable offense but since he was a minor, he was eventually released from detention.

In May 2013, Mark Joseph and a certain Christopher Ducot allegedly posed as Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agents and carjacked a Ford Escape in Cubao.

In September last year, he was again arrested for possession of a stolen Honda Civic. – Janvic Mateo, Reinir Padua