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Tour van burglarized
Tour bus driver, escorted by cops, uses tracking device to recover stolen items, except $5,000 cash
A tour van was burglarized as four Chinese tourists and a tour guide were having diving lessons at a Lau Lau Bay dive spot last Monday.
A female tour bus driver, escorted by police officers, used a tracking system that led to the recovery of stolen items, except $5,000 cash, according to Department of Public Safety spokesperson Jacqueline Rae yesterday.
Rae said police officers responded Monday at 6:01pm to a reported burglary and theft incident at a Lau Lau Bay dive spot. According to the tour bus driver, the van/bus arrived at the spot for diving lessons at 3pm, with four Chinese tourists. The tourists left their belongings in the van.
At 6pm, the tour guide went back to the van and noticed the middle windows had been shattered, and the customers’ belongings had been stolen.
Police officers met with the tour bus driver near the intersection of Kagman Church. Using her phone, the driver tracked the victims’ stolen phones and recovered the first phone near the church.
Officers escorted the driver as she used the tracking system and located the second phone near Railroad Drive in San Vicente. In that area, all four stolen bags were recovered, including cell phones, wallets, passports, clothes, jewelry, and personal documents. At total of $5,000 cash was not recovered.
As of Wednesday, police were still gathering information about the suspect’s identity.
Many tourists have been victimized by burglars and robbers on Saipan in the past few months. (Ferdie de la Torre)
