Dressed chicken order leads to arrest of jewelry 'thief'

An order for dressed chicken led to the arrest of a vendor suspected of stealing a gold bracelet from a pawnshop in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental province. The pawnshop teller who suspected Virdie Lachica, 39, of taking an P18,000 bracelet from the establishment turned the tables on her by calling her and ordering the food item. Police tipped off by the teller eventually found the missing bracelet in Lachica's bag, news site Visayan Daily Star reported Friday. But Lachica, 39, insisted on her innocence and claimed she bought the bracelet, but the pawnshop did not issue her a receipt. An investigation showed that Lachica left her cell phone number with the teller when she pretended to buy something from the pawnshop. When the teller noticed the bracelet was missing and suspected Lachica took it, she retrieved the phone number Lachica left behind and called her to order dressed chicken. As Lachica returned to the pawnshop, police tipped off by the teller accosted her and found the stolen item inside her bag. Police also found three pieces of jewelry still with tags from the same pawnshop. The report said Lachica also faces a complaint from another woman buying and selling jewelry, for allegedly issuing a bouncing check for P110,000 as payment for jewelry items. — LBG, GMANews.TV