A suspected carjacker was arrested after a four-kilometer chase from Sta. Ana Avenue to Bolton Bridge.
At least four persons, including a police officer and an air force soldier, were wounded when the suspect rammed the stolen Isuzu Elf truck into several vehicles in the busy Quimpo Boulevard.
The suspect, Carmelito Pamogas Tabion, 27, a native of Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat, took a delivery truck parked along Sta. Ana Avenue near Sta. Ana Wharf where the headquarters of the Task Force Davao is located. The avenue is also just few meters away from Sta. Ana Police Station.
Driving the truck, Tabion mowed down several vehicles, including an Air Force vehicle, a Hyundai Accent, whose personnel tried to stop him.
The chase ensued.
Capt. Rosario Aguilar, the acting information officer of Davao City Police Office (DCPO), said those injured were Police Corporal Lee Antoine Tambe, 33, of the DCPO’s Traffic Group; Airman Marc Jed Guevarra, 22, of the Philippine Air Force assigned at the Tactical Operations Group XI at the old airport in Barangay Sasa; Jason Bermudez Antonio, 25, a graphic designer and resident of Barangay 37-D, Poblacion District; and Althea Beatrice Caduaya Felizarta, 19, of Matina Aplaya.
Corporal Tambe said he was passing Leon Garcia Street on his way home at around 9:30 a.m. when he saw some Air Force agents flagging down an Isuzu Elf truck.
But the truck driver sped off, bumping the military vehicle. It sped off towards Quezon Boulevard area, where the Sta. Police Station is located.
Tambe, on board a motorcycle, chased the truck together with the Air Force personnel.
Approaching the driver’s seat of the truck along Quezon Boulaverd, Tambe said he introduced himself as a police officer and asked the driver to stop the vehicle.
However, the suspect continued to speed off.
He said the suspect even sideswiped him, causing him to crash into the vehicle of the chasing Air Force personnel.
After receiving the carjacking report, police from Sta. Ana
joined the chase.
Operatives cornered the vehicle at Bolton Bridge where it was counterflowing, causing further traffic.
The suspect resisted arrest as he locked himself inside the vehicle when police operatives told him to come out.
This prompted the police officers to break the window to restrain the suspect who reportedly acted unruly.
Shuijin Hong, the owner of the stolen Elf Truck, said the vehicle was parked along Sta. Ana Avenue as they were hauling products.
Tabion, now detained at Sta. Ana Police Station, will be facing multiple charges, including violation of Republic Act 10883 (the new anti-carnapping law), direct assault, injuries and damages to properties.
According to ABS-CBN’s Southern Mindanao TV Patrol, the suspect said he just wanted to drive a vehicle.
