Irate hotel guest sets fire to room after losing P10K

A hotel guest set the room he had occupied on fire early Monday morning after he lost P10,000 in cash to an unidentified woman who had checked in with him the night before.

Erick Bryan Santiago, an employee of Day To Day Apartelle on Edsa near Aurora Boulevard, Quezon City, told police that Efren Dinawanaw, 43, got mad when the management could not help him find the money he claimed was taken by his companion.

Undetected

Witnesses said the suspect left the room but came back a few minutes later with a canister of petroleum gas.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Jose Felipe Arreza, of the Quezon City Bureau of Fire Protection, said police were investigating how Dinawanaw managed to slip the flammable material into the hotel premises without being detected by hotel personnel.

The suspect, who is now detained at the Bureau of Fire Protection office in Quezon City, could face arson charges for setting fire to the room, as well as the cashier’s desk of the apartelle.