by Vir B. Lumicao
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| Exit D of the Causeway Bay MTR station is often crowded |
Three Filipino tourists were charged in Eastern Court on Feb 17 with
attempted theft, following a failed pickpocketing sortie inside the MTR Causeway
Bay
Angelo P. de la Cruz, an elderly man; Christopher Talao, a
young black-Filipino, and
Shiela Mary Niduaza, who appeared to be in her 30s, appeared before
Magistrate Bina Chainrai to listen to the charge. No plea was taken.
Prosecution lawyers sought a four-week adjournment of the
hearing for further investigation to find out if De la Cruz had breached a
deportation order, before finalizing the charge.
This was after the first defendant allegedly resisted being
fingerprinted by the police when he and his co-accused were arrested on Jan
19. It was only on Feb 16 that investigators managed to get his fingerprint,
the prosecution said.
The three arrived as tourists on Jan 18, the prosecution
said. The next day, a police officer spotted them allegedly following a local inside the MTR station in Causeway Bay
When the target went up the escalator to Exit D, Dela Cruz
alleged opened the victim’s rucksack and put his right hand in the bag, while
Talao and Niduaza provided cover.
Unknown to them, the police officer was watching and
arrested them before they could escape.
The three defendants were prepared to enter their plea so
that they could be sent home as soon as possible, the prosecutor said, as he rejected
any bail application for them.
Magistrate Chainrai adjourned the hearing until Mar 17 for
further investigation and finalization of the charge.
She ordered the accused to be remanded in jail and told them to get a lawyer to represent them at the next hearing.
