Man sees thief before house gets burgled

MANILA, Philippines—A man lost more than P40,000 in valuables to a thief whom he had met on the street 30 minutes earlier after he and his brother-in-law went out to buy breakfast early Friday in Quezon City, police said.

Although Dionesio Detera, 32, was arrested soon after the break-in, the items he had allegedly stolen from the home of Ronaldo Paterno, 36, were not recovered.

The alleged burglary happened early Friday in Project 8, Barangay Bahay Toro.

Talipapa police station commander Supt. Ariel Capocao said two bystanders told investigators they saw Detera, a resident of the same barangay, entering the victim’s house.

Around 3:45 a.m. Friday, Paterno and his brother-in-law went out of their house to buy breakfast, leaving the house unattended for 30 minutes.

Paterno recalled seeing Detera walking towards them as they went out the gate.

After 30 minutes, the two men returned home but Paterno noticed that the front door was damaged and forcibly opened.

The victims soon realized that a wristwatch worth P7,000, an iPad tablet worth P28,000 and a computer monitor worth P6,000 were missing.

Paterno hurriedly got out of the house to look for the thief and came across two bystanders who claimed seeing Detera leaving Paterno’s house.

The victim sought help from barangay watchmen, who cornered Detero as he was acting as a jeepney dispatcher on Road 20 in the same barangay.

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