Burglar caught stealing from town budget office

CEBU, Philippines - A burglar was arrested after he was caught stealing cash and items from the budget office of the Medellin Municipal Hall Thursday night.

Junrey “Jun” Bello, 26, of Barangay Guiwanon, Medellin was identified by municipal hall worker Dionesio Meca, 53, and at the same time captured by the establishment’s security camera burglarizing the budget office.

Meca, who was tasked to watch over the municipal hall, was checking the offices one by one around 9 p.m. when he noticed a medal outside the door to the budget office, Senior Police Officer 1 Ryan Castro of Medellin Police said.

Feeling strange, Meca checked the door and found out that it was opened.

He further checked and found a man hiding behind a steel cabinet.

He tried to approach the man, but the latter ran away, said Castro.

Through the closed-circuit television camera installed inside the budget office, the suspect was identified.

Bello was reportedly caught by the CCTV carting away a wristwatch, gold necklace, pair of earrings, and P500 cash.

The suspect was arrested by the police at his house and seized from him were the items he reportedly stole, except for the wristwatch.

Castro said Bello has been arrested in Mandaue City for highway robbery.

The suspect is also suspected to be a member of the “Batang Cebu a.k.a B.C. 45 Gang, an organized prison gang allegedly founded by convicts at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

The suspect was brought to the police station and will be facing charges.

Meanwhile, burglars took at least P180,000 worth of  cylinder valves from a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder repair and maintenance company in Barangay Magay, Compostela Wednesday night.

At least 1,200 pieces of gas cylinder valves from ASEPHIL Manufacturing Corporation were stolen by unidentified culprits who broke into the company office.

Senior Police Officer 2 Pedro Enriquez of Compostela Police Station said the burglars, using tools, drilled a hole at a concrete wall to get inside the building.

Enriquez said two security guards were on duty that night but they did not allegedly notice the burglary at the stock room, which was located at the back of the building.

In the morning, company manager Maria Norina Sarukam went to inspect the stock room only to find the hole in the wall and the cylinder valves, which were placed inside a can, missing.

Sarukam, together with the guards, immediately went to Compostela Police Station and reported the incident.

Investigation into the incident is ongoing. — Bryner L. Diaz and Ma. Fatima R. Secuya/NSA (FREEMAN)