‘Solar thieves’ strike fitness center, public recreation facility

A string of thefts on Saipan have left many in the community shocked and disturbed, and recently several thieves have been leaning toward the light, and by light, meaning solar lights.

Latte Built 24HR Fitness in Chalan Kanoa is the latest victim of the “solar thieves” when the perpetrators stole three out of four newly installed $500 solar lights from the gym’s extended parking lot.

Latte Built owner Derek Cutting said because the theft incident involved just solar lights, he didn’t bother to report it to the police.

“It’s not a diss on them in any way, they’re just busy and there’s other things they have to worry about more besides my solar lights. But the fact that it’s been happening all over the island may be a case we could put together in that sense. I just saw that in Tanapag solar batteries were stolen and I’ve heard others say that their solar lights were also stolen.”

Cutting then reached out to community members who may have seen parts of the solar light or the solar light itself to notify him. He also wants to warn other community members about the thefts and hopefully prevent it from happening.

Another solar theft took place in the village of Tanapag, this time it was a public pavilion’s solar panel batteries that were taken.

Division of Parks and Recreation director Michael Cruz said the pavilions are under his office’s jurisdiction and he’s upset about the latest incident.

“I stay in Tanapag and I don’t appreciate this. The government gives us opportunities to have lighting at night for everyone using the place.”

He shared that the solar paneling lights were provided by the Office of Grant Management under administrator Epi Cabrera. Through the partnership and funding, the goal had been to put solar panels to bring light to a majority of public pavilions on island.

Cruz said last week his staff heard that the once very well-lit pavilion in Tanapag has dimmed out and after sending staff to check it, they opened the solar panel to find the batteries stolen.

“I feel heartbroken because I don’t know if we can afford to replace it. Whenever something like this gets stolen it’s so hard to replace, especially since we use federal grants to help us get this stuff. And we still have more facilities we are supposed to install these solar panels on.”

Cruz said TurnKey Solutions donated several solar cameras, but he feels uncomfortable to have to survey every pavilion just for the sake of checking their paneling.

He shared that he’d rather see community members self-govern and be responsible to care for the facilities and the resources given them.

“We have to take care of what we have now and be grateful for it…We can always clean the parks, we can always maintain it, but what we have there, we can’t always replace. All I ask the community is please take care of what we got now because I don’t know if we can afford replacing those stuff. Just treat it like you own it, we have to take that responsibility.”

Cruz said everyone should have a mindset that these things belong to the community and not to the government.

“If you’re planning to take stuff like this, just remember your family is using it too. It’s like you’re taking stuff from your own family and it’s hard enough to get money to get those replaced not to mention put it up. These things are not cheap.”

Rep. Joel Camacho (Ind-Saipan), meanwhile, took to social media to ask community members to keep an eye out for anyone who may have been involved in the theft.

“Truly heartbreaking hearing that the batteries for the solar panel at the Tanapag pavilion was recently stolen. This was donated and installed for the community to enjoy. Kindly asking the community in the North to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious behind this unfortunate incident.”

The Department of Public Safety, for its part, said they’re currently investigating the multiple cases on thefts of solar lights and solar panel batteries. DPS is asking the public to be vigilant and report suspicious activities. If anyone has information about these incidents, they may call the DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) at (670) 664-9042, DPS headquarters at (670) 664-9001, or the Crime Stoppers Hotline at (670) 234-7272 if they wish to remain anonymous.