2 theft cases since Holy Thursday

CEBU, Philippines - Two incidents of theft were recorded by the police in Cebu City, both believed to have happened within 48 hours since Holy Thursday.

One involved a station of a burger chain along Archbishop Reyes Street while another involved a private residence in Barangay Lahug.

The management of Angel Burger is set to file charges against one of its employees who allegedly fled with P13,475. The burger station is located along Archbishop Reyes in sitio Baka, Barangay Apas.

The FREEMAN is withholding the name of the suspected employee pending the filing of charges.

PO2 Reynaldo Labating of the Cebu City Theft and Robbery Section said the theft was discovered yesterday morning when Arlene Vivar, 37, who was supposed to took over her colleague arrived at the burger station.

Vivar, a resident of Looc, Mandaue City, arrived at the burger station at 7am but was surprised to see that it was locked and her colleague was not around.

Vivar immediately called the chain’s maintenance supervisor, Arthur Balansag, and informed him of the incident.

Balansag arrived later with the area manager who ordered Balansag to open the station using a borer.

While the door was being opened, they reportedly found the key door at the garbage bin nearby. They suspected that the suspect might have wanted to get rid of the key.

Once inside the burger station, the three did not find any money and sales report but only found a notebook indicating last Friday’s sales, from 7pm to 7am, the shift of the suspect.

Labating said the three tried to call the suspect but she reportedly was not answering her phone. The suspect claimed to be residing in Sudlon, Barangay Lahug but is originally from Malhiao in the southwestern town of Badian.

Labating said a case for qualified theft will be filed against the suspect on Tuesday. The suspect remained at large as of yesterday.

Meanwhile, in another incident, a woman came home from a vacation only to find her house in sitio Maracas, Barangay Lahug burglarized.

Lyle Catacutan, 31, reported to the police that she lost a caliber .45 pistol worth P45,000 and two units of DVD players worth P5,000.

Ocular investigation showed that the burglary might have happened between 8am last Thursday to 7:45 am yesterday when Catacutan was away for a vacation in Bohol.

Investigation showed that the burglar was able to open the door by breaking the padlock. The DVD players were placed at the ground floor while the gun was placed inside a cabinet at the second floor.

Authorities have since reminded the public to secure their houses especially during the Holy Week break when they go on vacation. Often, unscrupulous individuals take advantage of the situation to break into houses. — (FREEMAN)