Dagupan cops foil kidnapping
A kidnapping was foiled – considered a first in Pangasinan — last Friday through the timely response of the Dagupan Police.
A grade school pupil, a 7 year old girl and her 4 year old brother in Lingayen were taken by three unidentified men who hijacked the Toyota Fortuner driven by their father at 2:00 p.m. that day.
They were later recovered within an hour of the abduction after the perpetrators abandoned the vehicle on Arellano-Bani in Dagupan and fled on foot.
Both were immediately reunited with their parents minutes after they were rescued.
P/Supt. Mariano Luis Verzosa, officer-in-charge of the Dagupan police, said the perpetrators may have abandoned the hijacked vehicles possibly to avoid being detected by the police in Dagupan.
When lawmen searched the abandoned vehicle, they found the two children inside unharmed.
“We are still conducting investigation and verifying more details,” Verzosa told ThePUNCH in a telephone interview.
The van, driven by the children’s father, was reportedly intercepted by three still unidentified men when it stopped momentarily en route to the children’s private school in Lingayen.
He was approached by the 3 suspects and was told to alight at gunpoint. Another relative inside with the children quickly ran out of the van with one of the kids in tow on seeing the suspects pointing a gun, leaving the other two kids inside the van.
The father quickly alerted the Lingayen police about the kidnapping after the van sped off in the direction of Dagupan. A flash report was sent out to other stations within minutes.
The Dagupan police station quickly responded and set up road blocks in the city.
“While it could have been a carnapping case, the fact that the children were taken with the van makes it kidnapping.” said Verzosa.
The identities of the suspects are now being determined based on the description of the father and other witnesses.
Prior to this, the last kidnapping was in November last year where two children of a businessman from San Jacinto were kidnapped in Bonuan.
The kidnapped children were released by the kidnappers a day after an undisclosed amount of ransom money was reportedly paid.—LM
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