A woman was arrested after she posed as a visitor and stole cash and belongings of two patients at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City early morning yesterday.
Suspect Glory Ascano, 31, is facing theft charges after her second victim saw her as she was about to leave the patient’s room, said Chief Inspector Rolando Bumagat, chief of a community precinct of the Quezon City Police District-Station 11. Bumagat said a check on the footage of the closed-circuit television camera moments after the incident showed Ascano sneaked into the hospital by posing as a visitor.
“(The guards) did not notice her as she pretended to be someone visiting a patient or looking for a relative at the hospital,” the police official said in an interview.
According to Bumagat, the suspect sneaked into the two hospital rooms from 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. yesterday.
Ascano could have gone unnoticed after she successfully sneaked into the hospital room of Angel Pascua, 37, and stole two cellular phones and a bag.
Pascua was reportedly asleep and did not notice when the suspect entered and left the room. But still not contented with her loot, Ascano went to the room of 63-year-old Benito Barayuga, who at the time was inside the comfort room.
When the patient came out, he saw the suspect sneaking out of his hospital room and already carrying his wife’s shoulder bag containing cash worth P14,000. At this point, Barayuga called the attention of a security guard, leading to the suspect’s arrest. – Reinir Padua