Police have arrested a repeat offender for allegedly stealing religious items and equipment worth P250,000 from the Santa Elena chapel in Marikina City.
Jun Carl Masujer, also known as “Obama,” was nabbed after a jeepney barker—to whom Masujer and three of his cohorts confided their crime—tipped off the Marikina police.
Masujer was arrested on Monday along Dela Paz Street in Barangay Santa Elena.
The police did not disclose the arrest earlier in order not to alert the other suspects, who are still at large.
Senior Insp. Ariel Cambri, who heads the Marikina police’s investigation and detection management section, said the suspects, wearing new clothes and slippers, bragged about what they did to the barker.
The stolen items included antique crowns and chalices, a silver cross, a 42-inch flatscreen TV, an amplifier, a DVD player and three microphones.
The thieves forcibly entered a door behind the altar, according to investigators.
Chief Insp. Eduardo Cayetano, head of police community relations, said Masujer had a string of arrests for various offenses, including ordinance violations, petty thievery and starting street fights.