$20K bail for two men arrested for theft

The Department of Public Safety nabbed two more individuals accused of theft over the weekend.

Assistant chief and acting public information officer Simon T. Manacop disclosed yesterday that police officers were able to apprehend another two individuals accused of theft last Friday and Saturday.

Facing charges of receiving stolen property and theft by deception, Jimmy Jr. Regunan Joaquin, 34, was apprehended last Friday and Venny Untalan, 27, charged with theft, was apprehended early Saturday morning.

The men appeared before Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho at the NMI Superior Court in Susupe yesterday for their bail hearing, during which Camacho maintained their $10, 000 cash bail each, before remanding them back to the Department of Corrections.

With Untalan having two cases already pending on Tinian where he is said to reside, his defense asked Camacho that the case be brought over to Tinian, but Camacho said that since the crime was committed on Saipan, this case would remain and continue at the court here, instead of pivoting everyone to Tinian.

Both Joaquin and Untalan are scheduled to reappear before court on Oct. 2, 2024 at 10am for preliminary hearing and Oct. 7, 2024 at 9am for an arraignment. Public defense attorney Charlene Brown was assigned to represent both men, and assistant attorneys general David Karch and Daniel Johnson will represent the CNMI government.

Court documents say that on July 6, at 11:11am, DPS officers responded to a reported burglary and theft case at Marianas Health Clinic in San Jose. Officers arrived shortly after and met with the clinic administrator who reported that their office had been burglarized. DPS said two Surface Pro-9 1 Pad laptop worth $3,800, two HP laptop worth $2,500, and petty cash money worth $350 were stolen from their office.

On Sept. 4, 2024 at 2:3pm, officers met with Joaquin at the I Love Saipan building in Chalan Lau Lau to “assist police with some theft information.” Officers learned from Joaquin himself that he has some information regarding the burglary and theft incident that occurred at Marianas Health Service in San Jose. Joaquin also added that he knows where the stolen laptop was located at. Joaquin told officers that a man named Edward Fabros, also known as Bong Kabayu, burglarized the MHS building. According to Joaquin, Fabros gave Joaquin all the laptops that were stolen at the MHS building to unlock it. The report states that Fabros told Joaquin he was the one who burglarized MHS and stole the laptops. Joaquin sold it to several people, and he told officers that he’s a computer technician and he can unlock passwords for laptops and cell phones.

Joaquin led officers to several individuals who he said bought the stolen laptops and during interviews with each one, all confirmed Joaquin sold them them laptop for $100-$300 apiece. One buyer shared he had no idea the laptop had been stolen and another added that he gave his personal HP laptop to Joaquin to fix, but Joaquin never returned it back. Two of the laptops were identified by MHS as the stolen laptops. Another two laptops were also recovered and held as evidence after being positively identified by the owners.

In regards to Untalan, courts documents say that on Sept. 18, 2024, at 4:5pm, DPS Central dispatched an officer to a reported burglary and theft incident located at the residence in Chalan Kanoa.

Officers learn from the victim that on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024 at about 3:49pm, a male individual was seen on their surveillance footage taking food out from their refrigerator, placing it in a blue-colored bag which hung from the kitchen wall area, just before fleeing the area. The victim shared the footage on Facebook and received information from several people identifying the male individual as Untalan.

On Sept. 19, 2024, police met with the victim at her residence. She consented for DPS to retrieve surveillance footages from her Raycom Camera System. After reviewing the footage officers observed that on Sept. 16, 2024, at about 3:49pm, a male individual later identified as Untalan walked into the property through an unlocked wooden gate door, opened the refrigerator, and took frozen sausages, frozen meat, frozen seafood, and ice cream. Untalan then placed the items in a blue-colored tote bag which hung from the victim’s wall and left the property. The total value of the food items was about $70. Officers identified Untalan from previous encounters and confirmed Untalan on the video footage. Officers stated that prior to this incident, Untalan had just been released on this same day, at 3:32pm from the Department of Corrections on another theft complaint. Police said Untalan had been arrested numerous times this year for burglary and theft related cases.