5 carjackers dead in Nueva Ecija shootout

By Mar T. Supnad and Manny Galvez

MUNOZ CITY, Nueva Ecija  — Five armed men who had just stolen a tricycle in Talavera town, shot it out with police manning a Commission on Elections  checkpoint here in Barangay Sapang Cauayan, before dawn Monday and ended up dead.

Chief Supt. Rudy Lacadin, Police Regional Office 3 (PRO-3) director, said

the five slain men were each armed with .38-caliber revolvers when they engaged checkpoint police in a gun battle at 3 a.m.

Alfredo Parira Jr., 50, a resident of Navotas City, and a certain Harvey, 35, of Tondo died at the scene, said Senior Supt. Manuel Coronel, Nueva Ecija police director.

The other slain suspects have yet to be identified.

Initial investigation disclosed by Supt. Ponciano Zafra, the city police chief, said the gunmen crashed their vehicles – a tricycle and a motorcycle – into the checkpoint signs and opened fire at the lawmen.

Zafra said they received reports that a black Kawasaki Bajaj tricycle had been stolen in nearby Barangay Bakal in Talavera town around 30 minutes before the incident.

 Zafra said the suspects, who drove past the checkpoint in the stolen tricycle, did not pull over. They rammed a pole barrier and traded shots with police.

Bullets and bullet shells for a .45 caliber pistol were recovered at the scene.

“The black Kawasaki Bajaj tricycle used by robbers was confirmed to be stolen and owned by one Macariodela Cruz,” Zafra said.

Later, it was learned that the tricycle was reported stolen from MacarioDela Cruz, a tricycle driver and village watchman in Barangay Bakal 3, Talavera.

Zafra lauded his men who figured in the shootout although lamented that their Toyota Innova patrol car had been riddled by bullets.