Ex-convict allegedly burglarized House lawyer’s home

A day before his sentencing in a criminal case, an ex-convict was arrested in As Lito yesterday morning after a surveillance camera led to his identification in connection with the burglary at the home of House of Representatives lawyer Joseph Taijeron in Garapan.

Police said that Benjamin Bok Lee, 27, confessed to the crime and stated he sold some of the stolen items and played poker.

Lee is the same person accused of assaulting his wife and her male friend at the entrance of Coral Ocean Point in Koblerville. The charges in that case were dropped last week; the prosecution may re-file the case in the future.

In the latest case, Lee was taken before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho yesterday afternoon on charges of burglary and theft. Bail was set at $15,000 cash; preliminary hearing will be on Aug. 29. Lee is represented in the case by assistant public defender Cindy Nesbit.

According to police, an officer responded to a report of a burglary and theft incident at the home of Taijeron in Garapan last Aug. 2 at night.

The officer learned from Taijeron’s wife that a purse she had just put on the table in the home’s dining area was gone and the front sliding door was wide open. She immediately called her husband.

The purse contained another purse, a wallet, a bank card, cellphone, car keys, safety deposit keys, house keys, office keys, two passports, and other small items. The total worth of the stolen items was $3,000.

She checked the surveillance camera of a neighbor that captured the suspect’s car and she posted the car’s photo on her Facebook account. That led to Lee’s identification.

Taijeron also remembered that a day or two prior to the burglary, Lee approached him at his house and told him he lived in that same house a while back. Lee then left.

Taijeron said he was somehow confused with Lee’s statement as the house used to be a business establishment.

In an interview with Lee at the Department of Public Safety last Aug. 4, he allegedly confessed to stealing the purse, that he was driving south when he passed the Taijeron couple’s house and saw through the sliding door and the blinds a purse on the table.

Lee said he turned around, parked the car, and went inside the house, and took the purse from the table. Lee said he then drove north, dumped some of the items from the purse into a swamp in Chalan Lau Lau, then played poker in San Jose.

Lee said he proceeded to another poker arcade in Chalan Kanoa, where he sold the purse to a woman for $40. He later went to another poker arcade in San Antonio, where he sold the stolen cellphone for $30.

Lee’s sentencing in a robbery case will be today, Tuesday, before Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo. In that robbery, a teenager was injured after he was dragged 50 feet away by Lee’s car.

In the case against Lee that was dropped last week, he allegedly committed the crimes of assault and battery and two counts of disturbing the peace.