By Jim Ayson
Friday, 13 August 2004
Dindin Moreno: Carnap victim!
Dindin Moreno: Carnap victim!
We all know the crime situation in Metro Manila is getting really bad - and then comes a story involving some musicians we know that reminds us all over again.
On August 6, Dindin Moreno, drummer of Parokya ni Edgar (now on tour in the USA) had his own cautionary tale to tell. Not only did his new Nissan X-Trail SUV get carnapped, his brother was beat up over it, and his brother's girlfriend was briefly kidnapped as well.
Dindin wasted no time in relating his story over a number of music-oriented mailing lists, the tale of which we are reproducing here in full.
In the meantime, the story serves as a grim reminder to all of us that you really can't be too careful nowadays.
Dindin's story, in his own words:
last friday, august 6, i bought a spanking brand new 20gb ipod with the griffin itrip to go with my new white nissan x-trail. but then...
the next day, my brand new white nissan x-trail was carjacked by 6 armed men at the pnb bank, corner of kalayaan ave. and eliptical road in qc. my brother was the one driving. he was with his girlfriend.
at around 10.20pm, my brother borrowed my x-trail to bring his girlfriend home in don antonio qc. since we live in teacher's village, the shortest route is to pass kalayaan ave to eliptical road, then to commonwealth.
nearing the corner, a private heavily-tinted maroon tamaraw fx suddenly bumped the rear leftside bumper of my x-trail. naturally concerned, my brother went down to check on the damage. he then talked to driver of the tamaraw fx. the driver insisted to settle since the damage was just minor - only a few but noticable scratches on the bumper.
he called me on my cell at around 10.35pm to inform me of what happened. since insurance companies normally don't settle on minor scratch damages, i told him to agree on the settlement. they then went to the atm machine of pnb which was just a few meters away. on the parking lot, the driver of the fx went down to withdraw some cash. my brother followed him just in case he might run-off.
suddenly, five people disembarked from the tamaraw fx. two went towards the x-trail and three more to my brother who was standing at the entrance of the atm machine. the two boarded the x-trail pinning my brother's girlfriend in the middle of the driver's row. the other three who went to my brother, took him forcibly, punched him and made him enter the tamaraw fx at gunpoint. they even pistol-whipped my brother at his back.
they were now seperated at this point. my x-trail was now headed to visayas avenue with the two carnappers and my brother's girlfriend. they later dropped her there unharmed. they took her cellphone and my brother's which he left in the car. on the other hand, my brother was in the tamaraw fx with the four other carnappers. he was tied with his hands at the back, blindfolded, and they kept the gun pointed at his head, threatening to kill him right there and then. they drove him around a few minutes and dropped him off at the new road which connects visayas ave. and commonwealth.
the girlfriend, who was already hysterical at this point, took a cab back to our place in teacher's village. she hysterically told me of what happened. and she doesn't even know where my brother was. they told her not to report it the police if she still wants to see my brother alive. i decided not to call the police until i hear word from my brother. after 30mins, my brother called using a landline in the gas station a few hundred meters away. i told him that his girlfriend was here safe and sound. i also told him to come home immediately so we could report it to the police.
i won't go into further details of what happened because i could feel what my brother felt during that ordeal. he said he never prayed so hard in his life because he really thought he was going to die that night.
anyway, we already reported it to the proper authorities and we are also getting some help from higher-up connections of our families and friends.
i really feel sad about the car but also very thankful that nothing dreadfully bad happened to my brother and his girlfriend.
why didn't i remember those past emails regarding this kind of modus-operandi. i should have told my brother to leave the scene right away when he called me.
here are the details of my xtrail, white nissan x-trail, plate no., xpa-773, conduction sticker no., ka3500.
also be warned of a maroon boxy type toyota tamaraw fx with heavily tinted windows. they are manned by a professional group of carjackers. if you happened to be a victim also, please get in touch beacuse we need all the details about that group.
if you happen to see my x-trail or the suspected carjacker's vehicle, please get in touch with po2 glicerio manacpoc of the anti-carnapping division at 434-7183.
we really need all the help we can get.
let this be a reminder and warning to all...
dindin moreno
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