ILOILO – Police are investigating a theft inside a grocery store at the Pavia Public Market on Monday morning, September 21, where three suspects carted away cash and personal belongings valued at over P30,000.
The store owner, identified only as alias “Lory,” reported the incident to the Pavia Municipal Police Station (MPS) after discovering her bag missing from inside her store.
Review of closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage revealed that three individuals coordinated to pull off the theft. While two accomplices pretended to be customers to distract the owner and bystanders, a third suspect snuck behind the counter, grabbed the owner’s bag, hid it inside an eco-bag he was carrying, and slipped away unnoticed.
According to an Aksyon Radyo Iloilo report, the stolen bag contained P20,000 in cash, an imported wristwatch, bank passbooks, identification cards, and other documents.
Police Major Bonifacio Alabe Jr., chief of the Pavia MPS, confirmed that CCTV footage captured the face of the main suspect who took the bag. However, the store owner noted that the individuals were unfamiliar and not regular market patrons.
As of press time, Pavia police were still analyzing the CCTV footage to identify the suspects and determine their whereabouts./PN
