But his bad luck did not stop there after another cellular phone he earlier stole started ringing and the police were alerted to another theft.
It was the modus operandi of the suspect, identified as Edgardo Victorio Ymas, to pick the pocket of unsuspecting jeepney passengers for cellular phones or other valuables while in transit and disembark after doing so, but before he could escape his would-be victim, Petty Officer 3 Andrew Anthony Aguirre of the Philippine Navy, collared him.
Waterfront policemen said Ymas, a native of Kananga, Leyte, has no permanent address in Metro Cebu.
Investigation conducted by the Waterfront police station revealed that Aguirre and Ymas were both onboard a jeepney bound for Bulacao last Friday afternoon.
While the jeepney was traveling along M.J. Cuenco Avenue Aguirre said he noticed the suspect surreptitiously take his Nokia 3120 cellular phone worth P3,200 from his pocket but before the suspect could get away Aguirre collared him and brought him to Waterfront police station.
Miscellaneous team members of the said station composed of SPO2 Conrado Rocamora Jr., PO3 Reynold Malazarte and other policemen searched Ymas as part of the procedure before detaining him and they found another Nokia 1100 cellular phone worth P3,000 and a half-consumed hand-rolled marijuana stick from his pocket.
A few minutes later the said Nokia 1100 cellular phone, which was already in the hands of the police, rang, and a certain Marlyn Jimenez, 19 of sitio Eagle, barangay T. Padilla claimed she owned the cellular phone.
She told policemen she lost it inside a jeepney past 5 p.m. that same day.
Police then invited Jimenez to their office where she positively identified the cellular phone as her own and Ymas as the man seated next to her inside the jeepney where she lost the phone.
Because of this, Ymas will not just face one case of theft but two. That plus another case for violation of Section 11, Article 2 of the Republic Act 9165 for possession of marijuana. - Edwin Ian Melecio