Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Police launch hunt for man in Alabang mall car theft


MANILA, Philippines—Police have launched a hunt for a man who robbed a woman at an upscale mall in Muntinlupa City, seized her car and abandoned the vehicle in nearby Laguna province.

Superintendent Eleazar Matta, Muntinlupa police officer in charge, told the INQUIRER that investigators were having difficulty retracing the path the suspect took after he seized the victim’s car near Rustan’s in Alabang Town Center on Monday afternoon.

“We have yet to access the footages of the closed circuit television cameras of Mates,” he said over the phone referring to the Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc.

Matta said investigators went to the Mates office on Wednesday to view the footages, which could help identify the robber who sped off to Laguna with the victim’s Honda Civic.

But Mates officials purportedly told the police officers that their request had yet to be cleared by company top brass, Matta added.

On Monday afternoon, the victim identified as Chrisela Melitante was about to enter her car (license plate ZTJ 620) when the assailant poked a gun at her and forced her into her car. The suspect drove away from the mall, speeding toward the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx).

He later left Melitante at a gasoline station along SLEx, taking her valuables including a cellular phone and a bag.

Operatives recovered the car on Tuesday morning at a mall in Biñan, Laguna.

“What is clear at this point is that the motive appears to be robbery,” Matta pointed out.

The police official said he had already asked his investigators to question the security guards of Alabang Town Center who were on duty at the time of the robbery.

source: inquirer

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