Woman complains of ‘sloppy’ investigation

A woman whose house was burglarized by unidentified individuals claims that police investigation on her case was “sloppy and very disappointing.”

Hazel Tudela, a resident of As Perdido and a former counselor at the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, said she was very upset about the way the Department of Public Safety treated her case last Monday.

Tudela said she and her aunt discovered that burglars broke into her house at about the 2:30pm Monday. She said she was surprised to see all her stuff in complete disarray and confirmed the burglary when she found her bicycle missing. She found out that she also lost cash worth $400 and several jewelry items. As of yesterday, Tudela said she still has to figure out the total amount she lost in the burglary.

She said she and her aunt immediately called police. Police officer Jerome Bermudez and another officer came to the crime scene, she said, and that the police officers waited for the Crime Scene investigators for an hour and a half.

Tudela said the police ran a standard fingerprint check within the crime scene and found several fingerprints but when the police left, Tudela and her aunt found that they had left behind the finger sheet inside their house and did not return for it.

She said that, while the investigation was going on, she took a very short shower and came out to find that the police had already left, leaving behind a blue card about her complaint. Her aunt said one of the police told her that if they find the items they believe were stolen, she and her aunt should just report it to the police.

“I am very upset,” she said. She said the police did not even bother to ask her what possible items were stolen or could have been stolen from them, and that the police did not even question her neighbors about the incident.

Tudela, together with her friends, went to the police station Friday to follow up on her case. She found out that her case has not been reported to the station since Monday. The police in-charge at the front desk on Friday said the police officer who took her case was on leave for two days and has not submitted the police report about the burglary.

She said she was frustrated with how the police are handling her case. “I’m not saying that I’d have to be the priority but at least they should have submitted the police report already.”

At the police station, police officer Jason Tarkong finally attended to her case Friday. Tudela said the police officer apologized for the delay of the report and escorted her to the detective’s office.

The Saipan Tribune was unable to obtain comments from DPS on Friday as public information officer Eric David was on leave. Police officers on duty refused to speak. DPS Commissioner Santiago Tudela was also not available. All queries were directed to David, who was not around and will only be returning to work today.