Police arrested a 28-year-old ex-convict who allegedly snatched a woman\u2019s wallet containing $7,000 and threatened her with a knife at Body Works Massage on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan identified the suspect as Johnny Basiente John after reviewing the footage of a surveillance camera.<\/p>\n
Police found John during a follow-up operation and recovered from him the victim\u2019s identification cards, bank cards, and a stolen bicycle.<\/p>\n
At yesterday\u2019s hearing, Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman increased John\u2019s bail from $6,000 to $25,000, noting his extensive criminal history starting when he was just a juvenile.<\/p>\n
Preliminary hearing will be on April 23 at 9am.<\/p>\n
Assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit was appointed as counsel for John, who faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and theft.<\/p>\n
Pangelinan stated in her report that a police officer was dispatched to the Body Works Massage at Hotel Galleria in Garapan on Monday at 3:03pm, in response to a report of a robbery.<\/p>\n
The victim, a Chinese woman, told the officer that a man, whom she described as local and tall, stole her wallet containing $7,000, bank cards, and other documents. The victim stated she was due to send the money to China.<\/p>\n
The victim said she chased the suspect, who ran into a Toyota Previa van parked in the area. She asked for her wallet back, but the suspect threatened her with a long knife.<\/p>\n
Pangelinan said she and other officers arrived at the scene, where the manager of Hotel Galleria showed her footage from the surveillance camera.<\/p>\n
Pangelinan said she identified the person who fled the scene as John, who also drove a white Toyota van with license plate ABS 766 in a previous theft case.<\/p>\n
That night, Pangelinan and two other detectives found the car with license plate ABS 766 parked behind the Dragon Rent A Car in As Lito. They found a long kitchen knife in the middle portion of the van. a<\/p>\n
According to the owner of the rent-a-car, John rented that day a red car with license plate ACH 258. Pangelinan alerted all patrol units to be on the lookout for the red car.<\/p>\n
At 11:10pm that same day, two officers found John with the car in front of Dragon Rent A Car. The officers found a black wallet containing the victim\u2019s identification cards and bank cards placed under the passenger seat of the vehicle. Officers also recovered from the car\u2019s trunk a stolen bicycle.<\/p>\n
Pangelinan said that John admitted stealing the wallet inside a red purse that was on top of the cashier\u2019s counter at Body Works Massage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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