Fiscal drops carnap charge

THE Cebu City Prosecutor Office has dismissed the criminal complaint filed by the police against a couple who allegedly sells stolen vehicles.

Prosecutor Dixon Fuentes did not find enough evidence to charge Mary Anne and Jovel Entote with violation of Section 17 of Republic Act 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, as amended by Batas Pambansa 43 and Section 3 of Republic Act 6539, or the Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972.

In his resolution, Fuentes said the subject of the police’s search warrant is a BMW with plate number JAN-33, but they confiscated a red BMW without a license plate.

“It could be said that the confiscation of the said BMW colored red without a plate
number is illegal and under our Constitution anything that is illegally obtained cannot be used as evidence in the court of law,” he said.

Search

Last Aug. 9, operatives of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and other police units arrested Mary Anne in St. Michael’s Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City when they enforced a search warrant for allegedly stolen sports utility vehicles.

The operation came two days after her husband Jovel was arrested inside a club in Barangay Cogon-Ramos in connection with the disappearance of a van in Quezon City that he allegedly sold to a lending company in Bacolod City.

Mary Anne denied the allegation that she and her husband sell stolen vehicles.

In the police’s search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 9 Alexander Acosta, the subjects of the operation were a Toyota Prado 2008 (JOI-100), a BMW (NQI-707), another BMW (JAN-33), and a Honda Jazz (JZN-100).

But the police confiscated a BMW Sedan with no plate number, after Mary Anne allegedly failed to present registration documents and the original plate number.

In her counter-affidavit, Mary Anne said she showed the vehicle’s registration in the name of Dennis Chua and it has a temporary plate number.

Chua admitted he is the owner of the vehicle, which was brought to Entote’s residence by Mary Anne’s mother, Maria Paz Yu. He entrusted the BMW to Yu for a possible sale.

Mary Anne also said the police was not able to confiscate any plate numbers, but they seized her mother’s Honda Jazz (JZN-100).

“In the absence of any evidence that the said motor vehicle is listed as among those reported carnapped vehicles, it could not be said that the said vehicle is carnapped,” said Fuentes.