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$20K bail each for suspected copper wire thieves
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho maintained yesterday the $20,000 cash bail that he earlier imposed on each of the three men who were allegedly caught in the act of burglarizing the former Koreana Hotel in Chalan Kanoa and stealing copper wires early Saturday morning.
Camacho appointed the Office of the Public Defender as counsel for Nelson Atalig Ramon. Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig appeared as counsel for the 34-year-old Ramon at the initial bail hearing.
Camacho will appoint private counsel for defendants Jonathan Taitano Blas, 30, and Patrick Mendiola, 37.
Ramon, Blas, and Mendiola were arrested for burglary and theft. A fourth suspect, Jose Blas, reportedly confessed to the police and cooperated with the investigation. It is not clear whether Jose Blas will also be charged.
Police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan stated in her report that members of the Department of Public Safety’s Charlie Shift Patrol Unit responded to the former Koreana Hotel on Saturday at 3:42am, after receiving a call from a woman about a burglary in progress.
The officers caught the four suspects exiting a small window for the generator room on the southern portion of the former hotel. Police recovered from the suspects large copper wires that were cut and rolled into bundles of about 50 to 100 feet.
Pangelinan said that Jose Blas showed her the trail into the jungle located on the southern portion of the building and also led her to a small window for the generator room at the former hotel.
It was allegedly Ramon’s idea to burglarize and steal copper wires from the establishment. Ramon was the one who allegedly brought a flashlight, hacksaw, and pliers at the scene.
Jose Blas said it was the three who went into the generator room and rolled the copper wires.
