CEBU, Philippines - Police arrested an American national who was reportedly caught shoplifting inside an uptown mall in Cebu Business Park, Cebu City, last Saturday.
The alleged shoplifter was identified as Henry Eddie Mack, a retired US Navy from Durham, North Carolina.
The 61-year-old American national was caught by the mall’s security staff in the grocery section at 11 am, SPO1 Jeffrey Larobis of Mabolo Police Station said.
The suspect reportedly yielded Dairy Milk and Goya chocolates, Magnum ice cream, and Bon Appetit sardines worth P208.50.
Larobis said Mack was already being observed while shopping.
The suspect was caught stuffing the goods in his bag before hurriedly going outside the mall.
Larobis said the foreigner didn’t stop by the counter to pay the items.
The suspect, who is temporarily staying in a pension house in M. J. Cuenco Ave., is in Cebu for a vacation, Larobis said.
Mack arrived in Cebu last Sept. 12 from Japan.
To settle the case, the shopping mall wanted Mack to pay ten times the original amount of the stolen items.
Larobis revealed that the foreigner had no money to pay and even asked for food from fellow prisoners.
A complaint of shoplifting will be filed against the suspect today who is detained at the Mabolo Police Station. — /MIT (FREEMAN)