Ex-teacher arrested anew, this time for ‘ice’ possession

Former teacher George Taitano Lieto Jr. surrendered to police on Wednesday, a day after fleeing with handcuffs still on his left hand when two police officers tried to secure him after they allegedly found methamphetamine or “ice” in his bag inside a parked car in Dandan.

Accompanied by assistant public defender Michael Sato, the 31-year-old Lieto surrendered to Department of Public Safety Central on Wednesday at 2pm. He exercised his right to remain silent.

Police arrested Lieto for illegal possession of a controlled substance, theft, resisting arrest, and obstructing justice.

At a bail hearing on Friday, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho imposed a $25,000 cash bail and set the preliminary hearing for Sept. 9 at 9am.

Assistant public defender Cindy Nebit was appointed as counsel for Lieto. Assistant attorney general Emily Cohen appeared as counsel for the government.

A police report states that police officers Norris Kwon and Rudolfo Hermosilla were doing routine patrol on Flores Street in Dandan when they saw a black Hyundai three-door sedan parked on the side of the road on the corner of the street on Tuesday at 1:30am.

The officers could see two persons in the car and approached the driver’s side. The officers identified the driver as Roque K. Satur and the passenger was Lieto.

When asked what they were doing on the side of the road, Lieto replied that he lives on the same street. Hermosilla, however, saw a net bag on the floor and ziplock bags on Lieto’s lap.

Hermosilla noticed one of the bags contained a green leafy substance so he instructed Lieto to get out to be placed in handcuffs for safety purposes only.

Lieto allegedly refused and kept asking why he was being arrested. He grabbed the ziplock bags on his lap and placed it in a black net bag.

Hermosilla placed one handcuff on Lieto’s left hand. Kwon advised Lieto to comply and to just listen. As Kwon tried to put the other handcuff on the right hand, Lieto allegedly became uncooperative and belligerent and the struggle eventually led to the ground. Lieto managed to run west on Flores Street with the handcuffs still on his left hand.

Police found a small black case in Lieto’s black net bag that was found on the ground. Hermosilla found five small ziplock bags that contained a crystal-like substance and two glass pipes with white residue sticking on the pipe.

A test on the crystalline substance from one of the ziplock bags was presumptive positive for methamphetamine.

Last June, Lieto was acquitted of burglary and theft offenses during a jury trial in a case that charged him and a co-defendant of burglarizing a store’s generator room and stealing copper wires in Kagman. The incident happened when he was still a teacher.

Lieto’s co-defendant, Terwik A. Ludwig, pleaded guilty last February and was slapped with a three-year prison term.