Saipan robbers continue to steal electronics

Despite the recent capture of three burglars reportedly responsible for 13 break-ins on island, robbers using similar methods continue to strike.

Gualo Rai resident Irene Maliaman and her husband, Alfred, said two laptops and two digital cameras were stolen from their apartment on Aug. 24.

“They came through the window,” Irene said. “You can still see the footprints on the bed.”

Police captured on Aug. 22 three men, ages 19 to 22 years old, who admitted being responsible for 13 thefts and burglaries on Capital Hill, in As Gonno, Papago and Kagman. The men would allegedly monitor a home and wait for the owners to leave before breaking in by kicking in the front door or entering through a window screen and exiting the same way. The incidents occurred during the day, usually after lunch to mid-afternoon. The three men stole electronics items, such as iPods, DVDs, and TVs from homes, as well as portable generators from homes and restaurants before selling them on the street, investigators said.

Irene Maliaman said she believes she knows who the robber is because he stopped by her apartment earlier in the day and stopped by in May.

“He’s just a boy,” she said. “He looks very innocent. He looks like a street boy.”

On Aug. 24, the boy came to the door of the Maliamans’ apartment and asked if Irene would like to buy the amplifier he was carrying. She offered to take him to the church where she works to see if it was something the church was in need of. A fellow church member told her that it looked as if the amplifier might be stolen, she said.

“One guy said, ‘maybe that is a hot item,’” she said.

Irene said she took the boy back to her apartment, and he departed, but later when she arrived home from a walk about 5:45 pm, she noticed the window had been opened and her items stolen. Police arrived about 30 minutes later.

The boy is known around the area, Irene said.

The Maliamans said they want to appeal to the public to be on the lookout for their electronics at pawnshops, which they call on a regular basis asking about the items.

“We couldn’t sleep because all my work is in the laptop, everything for two years,” Irene said.

One of the computers is a Toshiba with the serial number 2073572303980 that was bought last year. The other one is a secondhand silver Gateway laptop with the words, “Washington State,” engraved. The digital cameras are a black Nikon and a pink Sanyo.

The couple had to buy a new laptop last week to continue their work, Irene said.

Unless something drastic is done, the thieves will continue, she said.

“I think it’s making them more confident,” she said.