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Case vs Pretty Tour burglary suspect dismissed
A month before the scheduled jury trial, the Office of the Attorney General yesterday moved to dismiss the charges against one of two suspects in the burglary at Pretty Tour in Garapan.
At a scheduled pre-trial hearing, Chief Prosecutor Brian Flaherty asked the court to dismiss without prejudice the case against Roland Hernandez Muña as the government is further investigating the case.
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho granted the government’s motion and cancelled Muna’s trial, set for Oct. 20.
Muña, 25, an ex-convict, was seen laughing and smiling as he walked out of the courtroom.
Muña allegedly burglarized Pretty Tour Car Rental in Garapan and stole an FJ Cruiser, a 31-inch flat screen television, cellphone, MiFi, Italy sunglasses, and several keys for car rentals and apartment rentals with an estimated total value at $36,000, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
Aside from one count of burglary and one count of theft, the OAG also charged Muña with a count of resisting arrest.
Assistant public defender Matthew Meyer, who is counsel for Muña, disclosed in his motion for severance of counts that in the first attempt to apprehend Muña, police officers used mace against him but ended up macing each other. Meyer said Muña allegedly fled.
On July 6, officers again attempted to arrest Muña, which led to a high-speed chase ending in the suspect allegedly crashing his car into a chicken coop and running into the jungle.
Meyer said police finally succeeded in arresting Muña on July 10.
Police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan disclosed in her report that John Deleon Guerrero, who was arrested on July 1, admitted that he was with Muña when the latter burglarized Pretty Tour Car Rental office on the evening of June 30, 2014.
Pangelinan said surveillance cameras at two establishments corroborated Deleon Guerrero’s statements.
Deleon Guerrero has yet to be taken to court as police further investigates the case.
