A 28-year-old man who was afraid of being abandoned by his live-in partner for being jobless had decided to try his luck inside a mall in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City, by preying on shoppers at 7:50 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, 2024.
However, security guard Jason Tapdasan and fellow guards apprehended him and turned him over to the Mambaling Police Station after he was caught stealing Samsung cellphone worth P20,000 and an Iphone worth P30,000 of 24-year-old Mary Alob, single, from Azienda Firenze, Barangay Maghaway, Talisay City.
The suspect was identified as Kyle Aganan, a native of Masbate, but temporarily resided in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay.
During police interrogation, Aganan claimed that because he was unemployed and that he and his girlfriend often had arguments, he had chosen to steal in order to make ends meet in case his girlfriend left him.
"Na-isipan ko na ito ang easy way kumita nang Pera! Akala ko kasi iiwan na niya ako kaya ako nagnakaw para may pera" Kyle said.
(I assumed this is the easy way to make money; I stole since I imagined she would leave me).
Police Lieutenant Revy Dean Basalan, the deputy chief of the Mambaling Police Station, told SunStar Cebu that this was Aganan's second theft inside the said mall.
The first occurred last week when he took four cellphones and tablet computers, which he later sold for P8,000 on Sanciangko Street.
Basalan persuaded the other victims to go to the Mambaling Police Station in order to identify Aganan, who is set to be charged with theft Wednesday, August 6. (GPL, TPT)