An 18-year-old man suspected of leading a group of minors in snatching items from various victims voluntarily surrendered before the Tagbilaran City Police Station on Thursday.
The suspect, identified as John Alfred Samonte, a resident of Barangay Cogon in Tagbilaran, is listed as among notorious thieves in the city, said police.
Samonte, accompanied by his mother, returned a Samsung Galaxy smartphone allegedly stolen from a female victim.
Prior to his surrender, Samonte allegedly led three minors in snatching the said cellphone from 19-year-old Jackelyn Molano Reyes, a student of the Bohol Island State University.
In a report, police said that Reyes was on board a public multicab which was about to leave when one of the suspects suddenly slammed her head towards a partition of the vehicle.
The suspect then grabbed the victim’s smartphone.
Meanwhile, three minors who were questioned by authorities pinpointed Samonte as the crime’s mastermind.
Reyes also positively identified Samonte as the person who attacked her and stole her cellphone.
Samonte is now detained in the Tagbilaran lock-up jail while police are preparing to file a theft case against him.