Thursday, January 31, 2008 Crimes by minors increasing
CRIMES committed by minors were on the rise again, after two of them were caught stealing on separate occasions in various parts of Baguio, police said Wednesday.
This was culled from reports of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO), where a 15-year-old boy was caught breaking into a car and stealing its stereo at Central Fairview, followed by the arrest of an 18-year-old girl for theft at the CSI Superstore of Cooyeesan Plaza last Sunday.
Senior Superintendent Moises Guevarra, BCPO director, said first suspect is a stowaway from Belwang, Sadanga, Mountain Province, who temporarily lives in Pinget.
The complainant in the case was named as Virgilio Mapanao Fernandez, a resident of 170 Central Fairview.
According to the complainant, he went out of his house at 5 a.m. of January 27 to check on his vehicle, which he parked along the road in front of his sresidence.
However, before he reached the car, he noticed the window on the driver's side was open and allegedly saw the minor detaching the car stereo inside the vehicle.
When the foiled heist was reported to the police, a team from BCPO-Station 1 immediately responded to the crime scene to apprehend the suspect, but two of his cohorts noticed the approaching patrol car and managed to elude them.
After the boy was collared, another victim named Nelda Nieva Doctolero, a resident of 134 Central Fairview, also reported that her built-in car stereo worth P10,000, which was attached inside her Toyota Corolla sedan parked inside their compound, was allegedly also stolen by the minor and his two unidentified cohorts.
According to officer-on-case Christopher Dulnuan, the arrested minor was brought to BCPO-Station 1 for questioning before he was turned over to the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
At 9:20 a.m. also last Sunday, Nicole de la Peña was caught for allegedly shoplifting inside the CSI Superstore along Quirino Highway (formerly Naguilian Road).
The suspect was caught stealing two large tins of Progress Gold milk weighing 900 grams and worth P500 each.
"The suspect hid the items inside her shoulder bag and left the area without paying, but was caught," Guevarra explained.
Guevarra said the girl was detained at the Baguio City Jail for theft charges upon the instruction of duty inquest Prosecutor Alfredo Centeno. (ENO)
