AN UNIDENTIFIED man who had supposedly been stealing students’ belongings in campus was finally caught after a short-lived chase around quad area.

Senior Katrina Pecson was sitting with some friends in Kostka Extension when she saw the man being escorted out of MVP. He suddenly broke free from the guards’ grasp and ran towards the cafeteria.

Sophomore Maggie Lim said that the man went inside the Bento stall. A Bento staff member said that the man knew one of the staff members there.

“Sabi niya ‘Ate, wag niyo ako bigay sa mga guard kasi sasaktan nila ako,’ (The man said, ‘Ate, please don’t give me to the guards because they’ll hurt me.),” one of the Bento staff said, who refused to be named.

Two guards then went inside the stall and asked the man to come out. He was later escorted out of the cafeteria and sent to the barangay precinct.

Pecson and Lim said that the man was being pursued for a long time for stealing students’ belongings in MVP for quite some time. “His modus operandi is to steal students’ belongings while they retrieve their keys from their respective org rooms,” Pecson added.

Tighter security

Pecson said that the guards were quick to respond when the man began to run. “I think that showed their readiness and initiative.”

However, she added that “[I] wish [the man] hadn’t been to evade capture for so long.”

A senior who refused to be named hoped that the security will be tighter in the Ateneo after the incident. “Who knows what will happen next? Baka hindi na robbery ang susunod. (Robbery might not be the only thing that will happen.),” she said.

The GUIDON tried to get the comment of the Security Detachment of the university for more details, but they refused to comment as of press time.