Cops impound stolen Mitsubishi Montero Sport, start carnapping probe
The police are looking into how a stolen 2015 Mitsubishi Montero Sport SUV became a service vehicle of an employee of a Luzon-based company and ended up in Cebu.
Senior Insp. Michael Gingoyon of the Cebu Provincial Highway Patrol Group said that the SUV was turned over by the employee after it was stopped by an HPG officer on Friday.
The HPG officer flagged down the vehicle after he noticed the improvised plate number on the vehicle.
It was later found out through the vehicle’s conduction sticker that it was a stolen vehicle.
The employee, who claimed that this was a service vehicle given to him by a Luzon-based company, turned over the vehicle to the HPG officer.
The Mitsubishi Montero Sport is impounded at the HPG-Cebu impounding area at Sudlon, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
Gingoyon said that they were withholding the name of the employee and the Luzon-based company as they were still investigating how this hot vehicle ended up in Cebu so that they could file the carnapping charges to those involved in this incident.
Gingoyon said that this vehicle had been reported stolen in April 2017 in Cavite.
He also said that the man, who drove the vehicle claimed that he brought the SUV to Cebu from Luzon via Butuan in Mindanao.
To avoid ending up in this kind of situation, Gingoyon advised buyers of second hand vehicles to always verify the authenticity of the vehicle’s certificate of registration and the official receipt.
He said that the buyers should verify the documents with the police by securing a motor vehicle clearance from the police and HPG.
He also encouraged the buyers to have the vehicle undergo a macroetching examination to determine and to be sure that there is no tampering in the engine and chassis number of the motor vehicle they would wish to buy.