Teacher, man arrested for allegedly stealing copper wires

A Chacha Oceanview Middle School teacher was arrested over the weekend after he and another man allegedly broke into a store’s generator room and stole copper wires worth over $1,600 in Kagman last month.

George Lieto Jr., 30, was arrested in Chalan Piao on Friday for burglary and theft and was taken to the Superior Court yesterday for a bail hearing.

Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho imposed a $10,000 cash bail for Lieto’s temporary release and set the preliminary hearing for Dec. 12 at 1:30pm.

Lieto’s co-defendant, Terwik Ludwig, 41, was arrested on the same charges in Kagman last Wednesday.

During Thursday’s hearing, Camacho imposed a $10,000 cash bail for Ludwig’s temporary release and set the preliminary hearing for tomorrow, Wednesday, at 9am.

Police detective Catherine B. Pangelinan stated in her report that patrol officer David Rabauliman was conducting routine patrol along Cha Cha Road in Kagman last Oct. 26 at 9:47am when he spotted Lieto and Ludwig loading copper wires into a car’s trunk next to the generator room of New Kagman Market.

As Rabauliman turned into the New Kagman Market, he saw Lieto enter the driver’s side of a Mazda 3 car, while Terwik got into the vehicle’s rear passenger side.

As the car was exiting the parking lot, Rabauliman blocked the exit. The officer got out of his patrol car and approached Lieto.

As Rabauliman was talking with Lieto, Terwik got down and ran into the jungle south of Kagman Laundry located behind New Kagman Market.

The officer found in the car’s trunk two large rolls and two small rolls of copper wires that had been taken from the generator room of New Kagman Market. Lieto was then arrested.

According to the storeowner, the stolen wires were back up wires for the generator.

Pangelinan said she interviewed Lieto that same day at the Department of Corrections, during which Lieto disclosed that he and Navan Falig had arrived at Cool Laundry Poker in Kagman when Terwik asked to borrow a hacksaw to cut a vehicle’s catalytic converter muffler at a friend’s junkyard.

Lieto said he and Falig left the arcade aboard Falig’s Mazda 3 car to get the hacksaw from the latter’s house. When they returned, Lieto said Terwik led him to the generator room of New Kagman Market, where he saw rolled wires that were ready for pick up.

Lieto went inside the poker room and asked Falig for the car keys and he then helped Terwik load the wires into the trunk of the vehicle.

Pangelinan said that during her interview with Falig, the latter stated that he didn’t know anything about the generator room and that Terwik merely asked him to borrow a hacksaw.

In a separate interview, Terwik admitted that he told Lieto and Falig that he needed a hacksaw to cut catalytic converter muffler at a friend’s junkyard, Pangelinan said.

Terwik admitted that he led Lieto to the generator room. Terwik said he passed out the wires through the window and that Lieto helped him pull the wires out and roll them.

Lieto then took Falig’s car and helped Terwik load the wires into the trunk.

Pangelinan said she reviewed the footage of a surveillance camera at Cool Poker and learned that Lieto indeed followed Terwik toward the generator room. Lieto went back into the poker, took the car keys from Falig and drove the car toward the generator room.

Pangelinan said they recovered the rolled wires with an estimated total value of $1,662.57.