Carnapping charges were filed at the Bacolod City Prosecutors Office last week against four women and a man suspected to be part of a group who stole two sports utility vehicles from a rent-a-car establishment in Bacolod City in June, Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, city police director, said yesterday.

De la Paz said the arrest and filing of charges against Veronica Veril Anderson, 40, of Makati City; Lucila Lugatiman Sanchez, 54, of Iligan City; Maribic Diaz Sanson, 47, of Calamba town in Laguna; and Lorna Ricaplaza Lugamitan will surely cripple their group’s operations.

Another suspect, identified as Rainer Ortiz of Talavera town, Nueva Ecija, and the one who transacted the rental of the two SUVs, was also charged for carnapping although he evaded arrest, De la Paz said.

Ortiz, who was staying at a hotel in Bacolod, told the management of the rent-a-car establishment that he needed the vehicles for three days as his Japanese friends were arriving.

But the following day, the two SUVs were spotted being loaded onboard a roll-on-roll-off vessel in Dumaguete City that was bound for Dapitan town in Zamboanga del Norte, police records show.

On June 23, one of the vehicles was intercepted by the Highway Patrol Group in Cagayan De Oro City with the suspects on board, the police added.

De la Paz said it is possible that there are other rent-a-car establishments that have been victimized by the group but failed to report the incident to the police.

He urged these establishments to come out so that additional charges can be filed against the suspects.*APN

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