Pickpockets ‘play cat and mouse’ with cops

KALIBO, Aklan – Police in this capital town lamented how pickpockets were “playing cat and mouse” with them.

Picking pockets happens in broad daylight, most of the time in crowded establishments.

A barangay treasurer from

Tagbaya, Ibajay town l ost P70,000 cash to a pickpocket inside a grocery store on May 15.

Four days before that, an elderly woman from Barangay Old Buswang here lost P12,000 cash and important documents

contained in her wallet.

She said she got distracted by strangers in a grocery store in this town before she noticed that her wallet was missing.

“They know us,” Police Officer 2 Eric de Lemos said in a radio interview in the dialect.

De Lemos was assigned at the theft and robbery section of the Kalibo police station.

“When pickpockets see us coming, they stay out of our way,” he stressed.

Thieveries, i ncluding picking pockets, have been one of the biggest concerns of the local police during the days leading to the opening of classes.

Senior Superintendent Lope Manlapaz, acting provincial police director, vowed to reduce crimes, including petty crimes, in the capital town.

Police warned the public of similar incidents. They urged the locals to watch out for their belongings to avoid falling victims to pickpockets. (