Thrill junkies

The arrest of two young scions of well-off families in Cebu City may be the key to a a series of robberies of hotels and pension houses.

Eduard Teves and Michael Reyes were arrested at a resto-bar in Cebu City.

There was plenty of incriminating evidence in their car—laptops, guns, assorted cell phones and hotel keys, IDs of other people, and four sachets of suspected shabu.

Police said the latest target was a flat screen TV with remote control and cable box looted from a hotel suite where they spent the night.

After the arrest, a car shop owner managed to recover a laptop the two supposedly stole from his office last Monday.

What spooked their trail was the common sightings of the gold Toyota Vios sedan which they drove to both locations and the prompt complaints of the victims.

Police said they’ve been long watching the activities of the group, whose modus operandi involved driving around in a car, looking for targets, and checking in hotels and pension houses, where they ripped off amenities.

Two more cohorts are being tracked down.

If it’s true the caper has been going on for three years, what took so long to stop them?

This may be a crucial point as the apprehensions wer made without court-issued warrants.

Police officials said even if the men came from well-to-do families, their drug habits eventually led them to a life of crime.

Teves said he was scheduled to leave for the United States this week to join his family . He reportedly offered to help recover the items to ease the charges against him and Reyes.

It’s tragic to know that young men with means and who don’t have to steal to eat, end up in this kind of trouble.

If drug use was the trigger, it actually turned them into “thrill junkies” who resorted to stealing anything they could get their hands on – a spa employee’s handbag, a shop owner’s laptop computer and a hotel appliance – for the sheer excitement.

The law will have to take it’s course. The suspects face tough charges of robbery, illegal gun possession, and illegal drugs.

No matter a person’s station in life, crime doesn’t pay.

For now, it’s best if robbery victims come forward to confirm their stolen articles in the inventory of recovered items.

Hotel operators and pension houses that installed security cameras can also welcome the opportunity to check their videotapes for the identity of the perpetrators.