By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
A 38-year-old theft suspect who claimed he served in the “Desert War” in 1996 under the “Salvation Army” was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation after the court questioned the credibility of his statement, noting he would have been only nine years old at the time.
Assistant Public Defender Emily Thomsen requested the evaluation for her client, Tommy Rios Iderbei, during a bail hearing Friday. Iderbei is accused of stealing a smartphone, a camera attached to a tripod, and other items valued at about $2,400 from a swimmer in Tanapag on Dec. 24. He was charged with one count of theft.
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho instructed Thomsen to formally file a motion for a competency evaluation and upheld the $10,000 cash bail requested by Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds.
A competency evaluation is a psychological or psychiatric assessment used to determine whether a defendant can understand court proceedings and assist in his defense.
Judge Camacho remanded Iderbei to the custody of the Department of Corrections and ordered him to return for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 5 at 10 a.m. and an arraignment on Jan. 22 at 9 a.m.
According to the complaint, the victim told investigators he was swimming with his cousin behind Aqua Resort when a man, later identified as Iderbei, walked past his belongings. The victim said he sensed something was wrong, left the water, and discovered his Samsung S23 phone and camera were missing. He reported seeing a man walking quickly away while holding an item in his hand.
The victim later tracked the phone’s GPS signal to Tanapag. Police conducted a house-to-house search and encountered Iderbei, who voluntarily handed over the missing items.
In a statement to police, Iderbei said he found the phone on the sand and believed it had been discarded. “I am sorry, officer. I thought someone threw the phone away,” he said.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
