Ex-convict allegedly steals woman’s wallet, threatens her

Police arrested a 28-year-old ex-convict who allegedly snatched a woman’s wallet containing $7,000 and threatened her with a knife at Body Works Massage on Monday afternoon.

Police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan identified the suspect as Johnny Basiente John after reviewing the footage of a surveillance camera.

Police found John during a follow-up operation and recovered from him the victim’s identification cards, bank cards, and a stolen bicycle.

At yesterday’s hearing, Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman increased John’s bail from $6,000 to $25,000, noting his extensive criminal history starting when he was just a juvenile.

Preliminary hearing will be on April 23 at 9am.

Assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit was appointed as counsel for John, who faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and theft.

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.

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.

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.

Pangelinan said she and other officers arrived at the scene, where the manager of Hotel Galleria showed her footage from the surveillance camera.

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.

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

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.

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’s identification cards and bank cards placed under the passenger seat of the vehicle. Officers also recovered from the car’s trunk a stolen bicycle.

Pangelinan said that John admitted stealing the wallet inside a red purse that was on top of the cashier’s counter at Body Works Massage.