Six ‘notorious’ shoplifters nabbed in Bogo City

Police said the six arrested suspects stole P26,000 worth of items from an establishment in Bogo City, northern Cebu, around 5 p.m last Thursday, March 18. | Photo from Bogo Police Station

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Six individuals including four women, whom police believed are members of a notorious gang of shoplifters were arrested after they stole items worth at least P26,000 from an establishment located along Fernan Street, in Barangay Carbon, Bogo City on Thursday afternoon, March 18.

The six were caught in CCTV footage stealing the items in a systematic manner where others would act as lookouts while the others are busy stuffing the stolen merchandise on their baggy clothes.

Police identified the suspects as Rostum Mendaros, 27; Ruel Lumapas, 38; Rica Rivera, 39; Myrna Casoy, 54, Liezl Torres, 39, and Gemma Baac, 36.

Lumapas, Rivera, Torres, and Baac are residents of Barangay Sambag 1 in Cebu City, Mendaros is a resident of Barangay Caganahan in San Remegio town while Casoy is from Barangay Subangdako in Mandaue City.

Based on the police report, Jessie Mae Comedia, the pharmacist on duty, noticed while conducting an inventory of all the stocks inside the establishment that there were missing products, which she believed were not yet purchased.

So she decided to check on the CCTV footage and found that the six were behind the missing items. She also noticed that the suspects acted in a systematic way like they take turns in stealing the items and covering their cohorts from the cashier and security personnel.

After her discovery, Comedia then hastily called the police who were able to arrest the suspects inside the establishment.

The suspects were then subjected to a body search by the police and that was when the stolen items were recovered.

Meanwhile, Police Major Timothy Aniway Jr. chief of the Bogo Police Station, said that they have already filed theft charges against the arrested suspects.

“Yung modus nila ay ma consider na syndicate kasi synchronized movement,” Aniway said.

Aniway also said the group acts strategically as someone would serve as a lookout, another will distract nearby customers while the remaining members will do the actual stealing.

“Yung  modus operandi nila ay considered na notorious pagdating sa mga ganitong activities, considering na yung gawain nila,yung movements ay plantsado na,baka hindi lang sila anim,baka may hawak din sa kanila,” said Aniway.

Currently, the police are conducting a follow-up investigation after an information has reached them that two of the six suspects have a pending warrant of arrest for the same offense in Cebu City. /rcg