Police find bed, food in thief’s secret hideout in mall’s ceiling

A suspected thief used the crawl space of a ceiling in the Gaisano Fiesta Mall in Tabunok, Talisay City to hide, and lived there undetected for several days until his hideout was discovered the other day.

Police failed to locate the intruder after a 10-hour search but they found a makeshift bed, clothes, junk food and stolen cellphones tucked inside a vacant space above the ceiling of HBC, a cosmetics boutique.

“He’s used to climbing into buildings. That’s why we call him ‘Spiderman,” said SPO1 Mike Espina.

He said police already have the identity of the suspect from images taken by the mall’s closed circuit TV cameras.

An inventory by store tenants is being made to identify missing merchandise and other items after a rash of reports from employees of missing cellphones, personal belongings and store goods in June.

Espina said the suspect was known in his neighborhood in Talisay City to be involved in akyat bahay operations, a modus operandi of robbers who break into houses by climbing in through windows and other openings.

But “Spiderman” was gone by the time policemen squeezed through the ceiling boards looking for him.

His presence was detected after store workers saw a foot a man break through the ceiling on Monday.

Jinky Labra, a saleslady in one of the boutiques,said that they were all shocked to see a human foot suddenly appear over their heads at past 5 p.m. Mall management immediately called in the police.

“He must have stepped on a weak part of the ceiling. He almost fell through the board. We saw his foot drop out,” Labra said.

Gesim “Jessie” Nazario, security chief of the mall, said the intruder may have gained entry through a comfort ceiling and climbed into the ceiling’s crawl space.

“He would enter the mall a few minutes before closing time, then hide until there are no other people in the area. That’s when he would climb up to the ceiling,” said SPO1 Espina. When people were gone, he would enter stores and offices.

In the CCTV footage taken in the evening after the mall closed operations, a man is seen carrying carton boards, apparently to be used for sleeping. Authorities withheld the suspect’s name due to ongoing pursuit operations.

What police found were canned goods, a makeshift bed, blanket, clothes, cellular phones and a flashdrive. The crawl space in the ceiling was high enough for a 5-foot-7-inch man to stand up straight in.

“He made this his living quarters. When the mall would close for the evening, he could sleep there and then come out to steal things,” Espina said.

Then in the day, the thief would leave the mall and return later with a change of clothes, blending in with other customers.

It was business as usual in the Gasiano mall yesterday but a crowd of curious bystanders gathered outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the burglar in case he emerges.

Policemen first crawled through the ceiling, a risky process because of the electrical system. Then they tried to smoke out the intruder using a fog misting machine.

Different approach

Talisay City Councilor Danny Caballero, who dropped by the area, told police to try a different approach.

The search was called off at 10:20 p.m. last Monday and resumed first thing the next morning. It was too late, however, their target was gone.

Nazario said the thief must have escaped through the roof and slid down a metal pipe that reached the ground. Police found a discarded pair of gray shorts and a red T-shirt, indicating that the thief had stripped down to his briefs when he escaped.

Based on the food supply and gear stashed in his ceiling hideout, he may have been there for two days, said police.

SPO1 Espina said police are just waiting for the mall management to execute affidavits to support the filing of criminal charges. They are also checking records to see if the suspect was a former mall employee because of his familiarity with the building’s layout and his quick escape. At least six store tenants had complained of losing merchandise, said Nazario, the head security officer.

Salary deduction

At first, the thief took a few gadgets like cellphones and flashdrives. Then last month, many sales attendants were in tears in frustration from merchandise that had suddenly vanished and inventory lists that showed missing items they couldn’t account for. The cost of the lost items would be deducted from their salary.

Espina said that for several days in June, several mall tenants had complained of missing cellphones, personal belongings and merchandise items when they come to work in the morning. With Christine Emily PANTALEON and Carine M. AsutilLa