Cellphone thieves undeterred, return to take sleeping staff's tablet

Not contented with their earlier loot from an eatery, thieves returned to take another gadget as the storekeeper sleeps, according to a "24 Oras" report by Oscar Oida.

Caught on CCTV, the suspect were seen visiting the place in Rizal at around 5 a.m. One of them pretended to be a customer and approached the counter of the eatery.  Upon seeing the man manning the place taking a nap, he speedily took his cellphone that was being charged.

Minutes later, the same men aboard a motorcycle returned and one who earlier stole the cellphone approached the counter again and took the tablet this time before speeding away.

“Four hours lang kasi ang tulog ko e, kaya inantok ako ng madaling araw. Pinipilit ko naman po na di pumikit. Ang kaso, di na kaya ng mata ko. Pagkagising ko, tinignan ko cellphone ko dito, tapos wala na. Akala ko nahulog lang sa baba,” said the storekeeper Jovel Jagunap.

(I only had four hours of sleep, so I was really sleepy that morning. I tried hard not to close my eyes, but couldn't help it. When I woke up, I checked my phone but it was gone.)

The incident has since been reported to the Taytay Police for investigation.

“’Yun po ginagawa ng ating mga imbestigador sa kasalukuyan yung backtracking, kung saan itra-trace po namin sa pamamagitan din ng mga CCTV sa mga establishment kung saan sila nagmula at saan sila nagpunta. Ang krimen po ay pagbabayaran at pagbabayaran ng mga salarin,” said Police Major Russell Robert Abundo.

(What our investigators are doing currently is backtracking, where we will be tracing here the suspects  came from and where they headed using CCTV from establishments. The suspects will pay for the crime.)

Meanwhile, the police officer advised the public to avoid sleeping on the job.

“Pinakamaganda po sana ay sinecure niya yung kanyang place of work… Sinarado niya yung pintuan, ni-lock niya yung mga gadget o yung mga importanteng bagay na meron siya, iniligay niya sa isang cabinet na may lock na di mabubuksan… pero sana di tayo natutulog sa ating duty,” said Abundo.

(The best thing he could have done was to secure the establishment… He could have closed the door, kept the gadgets and other important items... and he shouldn’t sleep on duty.) —Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News