A Thief!

Just the last Wednesday night, my wife and I were almost asleep when her cellphone rang. She was informed that a man was caught in their old house with a knife, and the boarders thought he was a thief. Her heart raced but I told her to remain calm because the situation appears to be already in control. He was cornered in the toilet by the brother of the boarding house in-charge. We called up the police and informed of the citizen arrest. After undergoing a few incident verification procedure, two of the police immediately proceeded to the scene.

I illustrated the 5-inch bread knife and a light wood shaped as above.

At the Police Station

My wife and I went to the police station to find out details of the incident in the middle of the night. We met the police in-charge of the case and asked us whether we’d place charges or not. Apparently, the man was drunk, according to the police. I said we’ll be back in the morning when the guy is sober to talk with him.

At about 8 o’clock in the morning we returned to the police station and interviewed the man, a 21-year old migrant from Jolo, a distant island in Mindanao. He said he was just escaping three guys after him. He said he was not drunk (the police later admitted that his way of talking gave the impression he was drunk) and found the boarding house his refuge. When asked about the bread knife and a piece of wood he had with him, he said he brought those things for self defense. He also asked for our clemency because he had just had an appendicitis operation although I noticed the would had already healed as a scar is evident. Upon further conversation with him, we learned that he has a pregnant wife at home. He also told us that he was married several months ago to a Christian woman, while he is a Muslim, and it would be taboo to be doing that. A lady police knew their family and confirmed that this young man is betrothed to a Muslim woman and that his father is a businessman selling cars. He went against his father’s will of betrothal, was ostracized by the family and did not get financial support.