By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

AN 18-year-old man was arrested for assaulting a man and stealing his vehicle and other property including a laptop computer.
Denmar Malabanan was brought to Superior Court for a bail hearing on Monday afternoon and was later remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections.
The affidavit of Sgt. Thomas Blas Jr. stated that Malabanan was arrested on March 30 for unlawfully taking the vehicle of Joaquin T. Sablan and for beating him up.
According to the affidavit, on Feb. 8, Sablan was in his vehicle heading to the post office when an individual on a bicycle shouted to him and approached.
The individual was Denmar Malabanan.
Sablan pulled over and he and Malabanan talked. Malabanan then asked for Sablan’s cellphone number.
Later that evening, Malabanan called Sablan and they agreed to meet at the Chalan Kanoa round house across from the post office.
Sablan picked up Malabanan that night and they went “strolling.”
Sablan asked Malabanan if he wanted to go “clubbing” but the defendant refused so the victim dropped the defendant back at the Chalan Kanoa round house again.
The following day, Sablan was with some friends when Malabanan called him and asked if he could meet him at the Chalan Kanoa round house.
Sablan picked up the defendant and went over to Welcome Laundry in Chalan Kanoa to pick up a friend of Malabanan who was identified only as Richard.
The three drove around the island and later went to Sablan’s residence in Dandan.
Afterward, the three went to the Coral Ocean Point beachside and spent some time at the pavilion.
When Sablan later decided to leave and got into his car, he was stopped by Richard.
Richard asked Sablan to stay because “they still had some more things to talk about.”
Sablan obliged and got out of his car and sat on a chair. A minute later, he stood up to stretch but suddenly fell down to the ground where he was punched and kicked by Malabanan and Richard, the affidavit stated.
The defendants then ran to Sablan’s car.
According to the affidavit, Sablan tried to stop them from driving away and tried to enter the car but was kicked by Richard.
Malabanan came from behind and put his arm around Sablan’s neck and pushed him to the ground, the affidavit stated.
It added that Richard and Malabanan continued to punch and kick Sablan then left the area in the victim’s car.
The victim managed to walk to Coral Ocean Point and sought assistance from the security guard there.
The affidavit stated that the car was later recovered but items were missing such as a Toshiba laptop owned by a non-profit group, the Napu Life Foundation, a passport, Sablan’s bag containing a Louis Vutton wallet with $300 in cash and some omputer accessories.
The affidavit stated that Malabanan admitted beating up Sablan for making sexual advances toward him and his friend Richard.