Items recovered after alleged thief leads cops to 'buyers'

CEBU, Philippines - Computer peripheral devices and other gadgets estimated to be worth P330,000 were recovered after the arrest of a man who allegedly burglarized several establishments here in the city last Wednesday morning.

Junrey “Ronron” Ceballos, 26, of barangay Ermita was arrested the other day for allegedly stealing from three stores here; afterwhich, some of the stolen items were recovered from his possession. However, his alleged cohort identified only as a certain “Peping” had eluded arrest.

Ceballos and Peping were positively identified as the ones who sneaked into a shop along Sanciangko Street, barangay Kamagayan last Wednesday morning.

Adrian Uy, owner of the establishment, alleged that he discovered he lost a listed brand of seaming machine worth P150,000, three computer Central Processing Units amounting to P65,000; an Liquid Crystal Display monitor worth P8,000, and a heat gun.

The suspects reportedly cut the chain used to secure the gate, went inside proceeding to the main door, forcibly destroying the door knob of the shop.

After that, the same suspects reportedly took from another shop in the same place an hour later, or on the same day, five CPUs amounting to P18,000 each and a printer worth P5,000.

Last Monday, at around 2 p.m., the same suspects also reportedly took a television set worth P3,780; a Unizon amplifier worth P2,430; a Digital Versatile/Video Disc player worth P1,500; and two speakers with box worth P2,430 from a hardware store on Sikatuna St.

It was learned that the same men forcibly destroyed and opened the room of Frankelie Tabon, 24, a stay-in employee of the store while he was reportedly at the residence of his boss.

This was confirmed as the incident was captured on the recording device of a close-circuit television camera installed at the building. The suspects boarded a CTC taxicab with body number 4280 with the stolen items.

The police then conducted a follow-up operation and were able to coordinate with the taxi driver and eventually located Ceballos.

During confrontation between the suspect and the victims who were contacted by the police, the suspect admitted to the crime. Ceballos also guided the police in recovering the said items from the alleged buyers in Ermita and Pasil.

A charge for theft was filed yesterday against the suspect. It wasn’t however determined if charges for violating the anti-fencing law would be slapped against the buyers.

Further, it was learned that Ceballos committed the same crime in the past as shown on police records. — Niña G. Sumacot/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)