Philippine Thief 'Sorry' After Pawnshop Raid

A Philippine thief left a letter of apology at a pawnshop after cleaning out its vaults and making off with more than $16,000 worth of pawned valuables, police said Wednesday.

Detectives were hunting for a former employee of the Del Madel pawnshop, whose staff discovered the break-in when they returned to work on Monday, along with the letter, said provincial police Chief Cornelio Defensor.

The owners of the shop, in New Aklan town in the central Philippines, told police the supposed letter-writer was a former employee whose penmanship and signature they recognized, he said in a statement.

The exact wording of the apology was not disclosed. It was not known why the suspect left the company.