A notorious bike thief was arrested Saturday in Pasay City.
Pasay police chief Police Col. Cesar Paday-os identified the suspect as John Mark Salve, 29, of Parañaque City.
Investigation showed that Salve barged inside the home of April Romo, 22, in Pasay.
Police said that Salve took Romo's cellphone while it was being charged.
Romo saw Salve holding her phone and immediately sought assistance.
The suspect fled but was apprehended by barangay tanod Jonel Espinas, 32; and John Kenneth Enriquez, Sangguniang Kabataan chairman.
Unfortunately, the cellphone was not recovered.
He was turned over the police who uncovered that he had been involved in a series of bicycle thefts.
Pasay police had been on the lookout for Salve following a string of theft incidents in the past weeks that involved branded, modified, and pricey bicycles.
Salve had been previously arrested and identified himself as Jason Valenzuela.
He was nabbed last year for robbery and accused by more than 10 individuals of stealing of their branded and pricey bikes.
Most of the victims pointed to Salve who used the name Jason Valenzuela when he was arrested on June 10, 2020 for robbery-holdup.
Paday-os said Salve matched the descriptions and CCTV footage from the victims.
Other than bicycles, the suspect would also take personal belongings if he can, according to the victims.
Salve operates in Barangay 132, Barangay 134, Barangay 135, and Barangay 116.
Victims have posted on Facebook their stolen bikes valued at P15,000 and above.
The most expensive to date was from "John," who spent around P30,000 to P40,000 to modify his bicycle which is his main mode of transportation to work in Cavite.
He said his bike was taken last Jan. 19 at 9:35 p.m. in Barangay 132, Zone 13.
Victims created a group chat on messenger and decided to file charges Monday against Salve to prevent him from causing more trouble.
Salve had been posted on almost every bike group by residents from different Pasay barangays, with Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of him allegedly stealing bikes embedded.