Police raise alarm after suspected thief posts bail
Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) Director Sr. Supt. Melvin Mongcal yesterday raised alarm on vehicle owners after a suspected thief was able to post bail for his temporary liberty. He was released from the detention cell of the Jaro Police Station after he bailed out.
Mongcal said Sergio Dava was able to post bail of P2,000 on October 26, 2009. The City Prosecutors Office downgraded the robbery complaint filed by the police into theft. The evidences presented by the police lack the substance of a robbery complaint.
Based on the prosecutor’s assessment on the complaint filed by police against Dava, the evidences and circumstances did not warrant the filing of a robbery complaint. The suspect did not destroy the window of the vehicle owned by Ada Delgado when he took the victim’s personal belongings including a laptop and cellular phones, said Mongcal.
The suspect only used a key in opening the vehicle. This prompted the prosecutor to downgrade the complaint from robbery to theft. Mongcal said with Dava out of jail it is possible that he will commit the same offense.
Several other ATM cards believed to be owned by students from different universities here were recovered from the suspect’s possession.
Though the city prosecutors’ office downgraded the complaint, Mongcal still believes that Dava is a member of the Basag Kotse gang and not just a small time thief.
Dava, 31, was arrested by the security guards of the Central Philippine University. The suspect was alone at the time of his arrest. It was not established on whether he has other accomplices inside the university campus preying on expensive valuables of their victims when apprehended.
The suspect who is a former barangay captain of Barangay Zarragoza, Bugasong in the province of Antique denied he is a member of a Basag Kotse Gang. He claimed he is a kleptomaniac.
The city director urged the car owners to be extra cautious in handling their personal and expensive belongings especially this All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day. He said it is better for them to secure their belongings and not leave expensive things inside their cars.
