Taxi driver takes a bathroom break, passenger drives off with cab and steals its parts

It was all too convenient for this thieving passenger.

The taxi driver of “Jobit” taxi with plate number UVY-583 on Saturday evening took a quick bathroom break while on duty, and returned to see his male passenger driving off in his vehicle, ABS-CBN News reports.

Based on an a CCTV footage taken somewhere along Scout Chuatoco, Quezon City, the suspect eventually borrowed tools from a car wash and disassembled the car parts of the vehicle, pressumably to sell them.

It’s no secret that stealing car parts and accessories is a pretty lucrative business in the Philippines. It appears to be less tricky than stealing the actual car.

“He told me that that someone stole the car. It was like carnapping…He [the driver] took a quick bathrom break,  but he didn’t turn off the car. He was in the bathroom when the passenger drove off,” said the taxi operator Jean Joson.

Police authorities were able to find the abandoned taxi, but the suspect was already able to steal the vehicle’s tail light, power window, computer box and battery.

According to Joson, the taxi is now of no use to her. She is asking the authorities to install more security cameras for safety, especially in dark areas.

Police investigations are still ongoing to identify the suspect and to determine of he’s had other victims in the past.