Burglar breaks into town hall, gets nothing

CEBU, Philippines - A burglar broke into the treasurer’s office of Alegria Municipal Hall but reportedly got nothing.

The break-in was discovered on Monday morning by the municipal treasurer, 24-year-old Niza Cuevas, upon reporting for duty.

Cuevas said she was already inside the office when she noticed that the vault appeared to have been forcibly destroyed.

She then reported the matter to Alegria Police Station.

Alegria Police Station chief, Senior Inspector Reynaldo Geolin, and Senior Police Officer 2 Lenard Francis Cabahug responded to the crime scene.

SPO2 Join Caballero, as per investigation, said the burglar destroyed the door leading to the treasurer’s office and then the office door itself.

The burglar apparently failed to destroy the vault inside the treasurer’s office and went to the nearby office of disbursing officer Jose Wilson Patriarca.

Patriarca initially thought that the burglar was able to take away the P8,000 cash inside his office, but the money turned out to be inside the vault, too.

Caballero said there were no traces of forcible entry or exit to the municipal building.

He said the culprit might have gained entry inside the town hall on Sunday while the Commission on Election was conducting voter’s registration until 8 p.m.

The burglar, Caballero said, probably hid at the municipal hall’s stock room and waited for Comelec personnel to leave.

Latent finger prints have been lifted by Regional Crime Laboratory-7 personnel from the crime scene.

The police also took the fingerprints of the employees for cross-matching.

Caballero said there were closed-circuit television cameras installed inside the municipal hall but these are turned off during weekends.

“Naay CCTV gi-process pa namo, pero dili kasugakod og 24 hours maong pagngon aron makapahuway,” he said.

Investigation is still ongoing for the possible identification of the suspect, said Caballero. — (FREEMAN)