US Embassy security chief’s house robbed

USING the sound of the rain to mask any sound he made, a thief broke into the house in Quezon City of the chief of the US Embassy’s diplomatic security and investigation unit before dawn Wednesday.

Raymond Solidum told the police that he and his family lost around P174,000 in cash and valuables, including his service firearm worth P60,000 which was in a belt bag beside his pillow.

Solidum, 56, said that he, his wife and teenage daughter were asleep in their house on J. P. Rizal Street in Project 4, Quezon City, when the burglary occurred.

According to case investigator PO3 Solomon Sevilla of the Project 4 police, Solidum discovered the robbery only after he was roused from sleep around 5:30 a.m. by the sound of footsteps coming from the ground floor.

Solidum checked and saw no one but when he returned to the bedroom, he realized that his belt bag was missing, prompting him to call the police.

Sevilla said it appeared that the robber entered the house through a window on the second floor.

The robber targeted just the bedrooms on the second floor, one occupied by Solidum and his wife and the other by their teenage daughter, Sevilla added.

The family said they lost three cell phones, at least P33,000 in cash, credit cards  and various identification documents.

Sevilla said they were checking the closed-circuit television cameras installed near the victims’ house for possible leads in determining the robber’s identity. With Rose Barroga