Burglar nabbed inside IT Park condo

CEBU, Philippines - An employee of a subcontractor of a condominium tower at Cebu IT Park was arrested Friday afternoon after he was caught stealing more than P60,000 worth of cash and valuables from one of the unit owners.

Joel Garcia, 40, a resident of Sitio Carloc, Barangay Duljo Fatima, Cebu City, was apprehended by the on-duty security guard Roty Caylan and building engineer Randy Labiste.

 Garcia reportedly stole P700 cash, an iPhone worth P40,000, a wallet worth P500, a wristwatch with three extra straps worth P10,000, a hard drive worth P5,000, a speaker charger worth P1,000, an Apple laptop charger worth P4,000, and a power bank worth P2,000 from Aprille Mae Borja, 27, a call center agent.

 Borja, who was occupying room 123 of the condominium building, was asleep when the suspect broke into her room. Garcia allegedly forced-open Borja’s room with the use of an ID, which he slid through the door lock.

But just when Garcia was about to leave the room, Borja was awaken by the ring of her phone which was already in the possession of the suspect. Borja chased the suspect and caught him up at the lobby.

The suspect returned the phone and other items before dashing towards the exit stairway. However, he was cornered by the guard and the building engineer.

 Garcia was supposed to be off-duty but managed to sneak into the building.  Garcia was turned over to City Intelligence Branch of the Cebu City Police Office.

Upon investigation, Garcia confessed to CIB operatives that he had also broken into unit 324 owned by Virgilio del Prado on January 19.

Using the same scheme of opening the door, Garcia admitted taking away the victim’s cash, jewelries and other valuables which were estimated to be worth more than P1 million.

 The police are conducting follow-up investigation and operations for the recovery of the personal properties of the victim. Garcia is currently detained at the Cebu City Police Office detention cell. (FREEMAN)