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Cops kill 3 alleged carjackers, bank robbers in QC gunbattle


At least three suspected carjackers-bank robbers were killed following a gunbattle with police that ended along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City before dawn Monday. The police said lawmen are looking into the possibility that the three men were part of a robbery gang, after discovering documents allegedly indicating they planned to rob several banks. Radio station dzBB reported that the suspects triggered the chase when they ran a checkpoint while aboard a beige-gold Hyundai Starex van with a stolen license plate (XGY-494). Two of the suspects were killed on the spot, but were not immediately identified. One of them reportedly carried an Armalite rifle. A third suspect, initially identified as Naldy Samonte, was declared dead on arrival at the Quirino Medical Center. The police said the first suspect as clad in white T-shirt but could not immediately give further details as he was bloodied. The second suspect was described as wearing a white t-shirt, black denim pants, and rubber shoes. Several ID and credit cards recovered from the suspects bore the name Joseph Sarmiento, while an ID from the Parañaque City Health Office bore the name Joel Punzalan, 28. GMA News reported that a fearful Sarmiento attested that the van was stolen, and that he was the driver of that vehicle for his Chinese-Filipino employer Judy Yang. The Starex originally had the plate number XKB-982. Sarmiento said armed men held him at gunpoint in Parañaque on Saturday night, before being hogtied and blindfolded in the vehicle. After an hour, the car thieves left him along a flood way in Pasig. Judy Yang, of Bayview Garden Homes II in Parañaque City, refused to be interviewed before the cameras as she expressed fears that car theft was not the main objective of the perpetrators. Recovered from the van were high-powered weapons including a carbine, a baby Armalite rifle, and a .45-caliber pistol, and a grenade. Also recovered from the van were cell phones and a passport of a Chinese national, Yuen Pai Hoi, who arrived June 23. Policemen are now analyzing documents believed to be plans to rob a bank. The documents mentioned "Banco de Oro," "San Fernando Pampanga," and "Northern Luzon Expressway." An initial record check showed the van's license plate (XGY-494) belonged to a Toyota Corolla sedan registered to one Michelle Calano. The plate was reported stolen while the Corolla was parked at the Marikina River Park on Dec. 6, 2005. Sketchy initial reports showed the suspects and the police engaged in a running gunbattle that ended near the Katipunan-Aurora Boulevard flyover after the van hit its side. The mobile vehicle of the PNP Traffic Management Group Task Force Limbas also sustained heavy damage, including a shattered windshield. - GMANews.TV

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