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Burglarized shop owner stumbles upon surveillance footage
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Posted on Mar 28 2019
One of the more popular floral arrangement shops on Saipan was burglarized for the second time this year, but its owner has stumbled upon video footage capturing the alleged culprit.
Last Sunday, Island Touch by Philip was burglarized for the second time this year but this time, shop owner Philip Canuto has surveillance footage that could aid police in capturing the culprit.
Canuto said in an interview yesterday that the shop next door to his was able to capture a man, in shorts and a red-toned T-shirt, just circling the area around the same time he was robbed.
Canuto has yet to turn over the footage to the police because he aims to acquire footage from another neighboring establishment, Mobil Gas Station Susupe, to clearly catch the culprit in the act.
Canuto also mentioned that an acquaintance identified the male in the surveillance video and claims that he lives right behind the shop in Susupe.
Canuto thinks that the individual could be the same individual who robbed the shop back in January that police have yet to catch.
Canuto told the Saipan Tribune that before he closed shop around 10pm on Sunday, he went to a store to buy cookies for gift baskets he was working on.
He left the shop with all the lights on and the shutters closed, but he did not lock the door because he would be coming back soon.
Canuto said when he came back, he found the lights at the shop all turned off and he knew immediately that something was wrong.
Canuto said his laptop, which he used for his business transactions, and the shop cash register were no longer on his desk.
Canuto said an employee of the shop next door told him that a man wearing a red shirt and short pants was walking back and forth outside the flower shop shortly before Canuto left for the nearby store.
Canuto said he called 911 and the Department of Public Safety responded quickly.
Canuto said he found the change tray of his shop’s cash register on the ground outside his flower shop the following morning and it was nearly empty.
Canuto declined to state how much cash the register contained before the robbery.
Canuto said he is in the process of upgrading his shop’s surveillance system.
