18-year-old steals to pay for prenatal tests

CEBU, Philippines — After allegedly committing theft to pay for her pre-natal laboratory tests, an 18-year-old pregnant woman was arrested after she was allegedly caught shoplifting beauty products inside a mall in Barangay Pahina Central, Cebu City, last Thursday afternoon, April 23.

The suspect was identified as Ellouisa Lara Agan, who is six months pregnant and a resident of Sitio Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.

Based on the initial investigation by the Carbon Police Station 5, she was apprehended by a security guard, who caught her taking several items from the grocery section of the mall, putting them in her black body bag, leaving without paying at the cashier.

Police said the suspect stole approximately ?11,700 worth of branded beauty products, including 13 face powders, 12 skin tints, nine foundations, nine lip and cheek stains, five oil control face powders, two eyeshadow palettes, and one glow getter.

After he arrest, Agan was brought to the police station, while a customer service representative of the store also formally filed a complaint against her.

Investigators said she was planning to sell the stolen items to get money to pay for her. Agan remains under police custody, pending the filing of theft charges against her.

WANTED WOMAN ARRESTED

After more than seven years of hiding, a 48-year-old woman wanted for issuing bouncing checks was arrested in Barangay Inayagan, City of Naga, Cebu, last Thursday evening.

The accused was identified as Lydia Natad Larumbe, a resident of Purok National Highway Central 2 of the said barangay.

She was apprehended inside her residence pursuant to an alias warrant of arrest issued last January 19, 2019 by Judge Fredelyne Addug-Sanchez of the Metropolitan Trial Court in Pasig City for three counts of violation of the Bouncing Checks Law with a recommended bail fixed at ?2,000 for each case.

The said warrant was served during an intelligence-driven law enforcement carried out by operatives from the Naga City Police Station.

Police said that Larumbe was charged by a finance corporation based in Pasig City, adding that the charges were formally instituted sometime in June 2019.

However, when she learned of the formal complaint filed against him, she fled and hid with relatives in neighboring municipalities since 2019. (CEBU NEWS)