Irate residents of Brgy. Daro, Dumaguete City, mauled two minors whom they caught after a long chase for allegedly snatching the cellphone of a 24-year-old man.

Police said the victim, Jonathan Espina, of Daro, was taking shelter from rain at a waiting shed at about 2 a.m. Thursday when the two boys, both aged 15, later found to be residents of Brgy. Mantiquil in Siaton town, joined him.

He said one of the boys snatched his Nokia 6750 cellphone and both ran up the highway heading north.

Espina, who chased the culprits, was joined by several people in the area resulting in their capture in front of the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital.

The victim called for police assistance while the residents mauled the boys before handing them over to the responding policemen.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, two suspected thieves on board a motorcycle snatched the bag of the head of the Negros Oriental Provincial Planning and Development Office while she was walking home at about 8 a.m.

Jocelyn Gongob, who also heads the UNICEF-funded country program for children in Oriental Negros, said she was a few meters from the gate of her house in West Drive, Daro when two young men aboard a red motorcycle suddenly grabbed her hand bag, and escaped.

Gongob lost her Nokia 7200 and 6210 cellphones, and her ATM cards for GSIS, DBP, and PNB bank accounts that were in the bag.*RG

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