‘Akyat-bahay’ suspect caught in San Juan

MANILA, Philippines — A 23-year-old man was arrested at dawn yesterday for allegedly breaking into a house in the exclusive North Greenhills Subidivision in San Juan.

Jomari Aspra was arrested seven hours after he was seen fleeing the house of Mark Tan and Cherry Cortez, neighbors of Mayor Francis Zamora, reportedly after stealing an undisclosed amount of money.

The mayor said Aspra managed to enter the highly secure subdivision by scaling its perimeter fence.

He added that it took police officers seven hours to catch Aspra, who hid in a vacant lot, as he was about the climb the perimeter fence.

Police confiscated a .38 caliber revolver and P2,000 from Aspra, who faces charges of robbery and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.

Zamora said Aspra was released from jail in March last year after similar charges were filed against him.

“I have ordered a deeper investigation to identify his cohorts,” Zamora said.