‘Basag-kotse’ suspect slain by Tagaytay cops

SAN PEDRO CITY – A suspected car thief was killed in a shootout with responding policemen in Tagaytay City, Cavite, early on Tuesday.

Superintendent Elmer Decena, Tagaytay City police chief, said the incident happened about 1:30 a.m. along Aguinaldo Highway in Barangay Maitim II-East.

Decena said in a phone interview that police were alerted of a theft involving a sports utility vehicle parked on a dimly lit roadside.

He said the suspect stole the vehicle’s stereo by breaking the window next to the driver’s seat, a modus referred to as “basag-kotse.”

Decena said the police responded to the scene and on their way met a man who looked “suspicious and uneasy.” He said the man suddenly fired shots at the approaching officers which prompted the shootout.

The man died instantly.

Decena said they recovered a .38-caliber revolver and two sachets of suspected shabu along with the stolen car stereo and tools from the suspect’s backpack.

The police have yet to identify the suspect. /cbb