Police are reminding car owners to be alert for thieves who break into parked vehicles.
Last Sunday, three vehicles in the South Road Properties (SRP) were the target of a ‘basag kotse’ gang that gained entry by cutting the window glass without anyone noticing.
“Don’t leave valuables inside vehicles or if you do, don’t put it somewhere visible to avoid attracting robbers,” said Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, regional directorate chief of staff of Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (PRO-7).
He said business establishments should invest in CCTV cameras and have someone monitor it since this would be useful in identifying perpetrators after a crime happens.
Four vehicles were burglarized in separate incidents in Cebu City last Sunday.
Three of the theft incidents happened at the SRP.
The first incident happened around 3 p.m. in barangay Mabolo while the car owner was attending Sunday Mass at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.
Later at the Farmers’ Market at SRP, the window of a sports utility vehicle of Ian Gabuya was smashed.
Thieves took a bag left inside the vehicle.
Later in the evening, a shoulder bag with credit cards and a makeup kit worth P50,000 was stolen from the Mitsubishi Mirage of Lizerril Dejarme, 27.
The car was parked outside a restaurant in the SRP.
Police said Dejarme was at the restaurant for a family gathering. She later discovered that the vehicle’s rear window had been detached.
Another victim Rolando Ouano, 51, reported to the police the loss of his cellphone worth P15,000 which had been left in his Kia Sorrento (YKF 400).
A window of the SUV was shattered by thieves.
Because of the series of theft incidents, Senior Insp. Regino Maramag Jr., chief of Mambaling Police Station, said they have advised establishment owners to tighten security measures.
Maramag said police have not yet identified the culprits but are looking at a professional robbery group as suspects.
Maramag said the group targets vehicles parked in dimly lit areas.
Police said the culprits may have used glass cutters to detach the car windows instead of smashing them to avoid noise and detection.
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