Burglary case versus ex-Sports and Rec deputy chief dismissed

Superior Court Associate Judge Perry B. Inos has dismissed the criminal case against former Division of Sports and Recreation deputy director John B. Reyes Jr. in connection with the burglary at the Garapan Elementary School.

Inos dismissed the case without prejudice after the Office of the Attorney General and Reyes filed a joint motion to dismiss the complaint.

Dismissal without prejudice allows the OAG to re-file a new complaint on the same claim in the future.

The complaint had charged 34-year-old Reyes and Mario O. Sablan with burglary, theft, conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to commit theft, possession or removal of government property, and criminal mischief.

The case against Sablan, also a former staff at the Division of Sports and Recreation, is still pending in court.
In their motion to dismiss, assistant attorney general James B. McAllister and defense counsel Stephen C. Woodruff stated that after thorough investigation, the OAG has determined that the evidence against Reyes is not enough to support a conviction.

Specifically, McAllister and Woodruff said, the OAG has signed witness statements from seven persons, all attesting to and confirming Reyes’ whereabouts on Sunday, March 25, 2012, from about 12pm to 7pm.

Burglars reportedly broke into several classrooms and storage rooms at GES on March 25, 2012, and stole over more $6,000 worth of equipment and other instructional materials.

McAllister and Woodruff said the CNMI government met or spoke with each of these seven individuals and each has confirmed the written statements and sufficiently corroborated the statements of each other.

In addition, the eyewitness in the case failed to pick Reyes out of a photo line-up, they said.

On April 3, 2012, Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo allowed Reyes to post $1,000 cash and $4,000 unsecured or appearance bond.

Govendo allowed Sablan to post $625 cash and $4,375 in unsecured or appearance bond.

Police detective Jeffrey I. Norita stated in his report that a security guard had spotted Reyes and Sablan on March 25 at 5pm, both standing behind one of the Head Start classrooms.

Norita said the guard noticed Reyes holding two piano keyboards, while Sablan was carrying a big rainbow color bag.

The guard ran to the western side of the gate to exit and go after Reyes and Sablan but the two were no longer there when he got to the place.

The guard later discovered that two vacant homes being used to store school equipments had also been burglarized.

Reyes and Sablan both pleaded not guilty. (Ferdie de la Torre)