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Cause found to charge alleged Pena House burglar
Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio found probable cause yesterday to charge Mark Anthony S. Benavente with burglary and theft.
Benavente, 34, was allegedly caught on a surveillance camera burglarizing and stealing money and an iPad from the Pena House Dress Shop in Chalan Kanoa.
He will be arraigned on March 30.
Assistant attorney general Heather Barcinas called to the witness stand police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan, who testified about their investigation that led to the identification and arrest of Benavente last March 12.
Assistant public defender Matthew Meyer served as counsel for the defendant.
In her report, Pangelinan stated that several persons, including Benavente’s family members and a former girlfriend, identified the person in the still photos taken from the surveillance footage as the suspect.
Benavente remains in jail after failing to post a $10,000 cash bail.
Pangelinan stated in her report that a police officer was dispatched to a burglary and theft incident at the Pena House Dress Shop last March 9.
Pangelinan said a store clerk told the officer that someone broke into their backdoor by damaging the deadbolt and door knob.
Once inside the store, the burglar forcibly opened the cash register and stole $100 and an iPad worth $600 that belonged to the storeowner’s husband.
Pangelinan said a review of the surveillance footage showed the burglar to be a skinny male wearing a pair of long pants, white T-shirt, and a baseball cap.
