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CEBU CITY, Philippines - Using hammers, armed men smashed glass display cases of a jewelry store in Mango Square Mall in Cebu City then fled with the loot 3:55 p.m. on Tuesday.
It was over in about three minutes, taking mall guards by surprise.
Six robbers escaped on a waiting car with a still undetermined amount of jewelry from Golden Treasures, Best of Jewelry located on the third floor of the mall.
The getaway vehicle, a white Nissan Sentra, was later found abandoned about 50 meters from the mall at the corner of Juana Osmeña Extension and Ma. Christina Extension.
“It was daring robbery considering that it was inside the mall,” said Cebu City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, who went to Mango Square after the heist. “It's obvious that this group made a casing.”
He said the mall owner told him she called 166 while the robbery was going on but nobody answered the hotline of the Cebu City Mobile Patrol Group.
“Nobody answered the phone. There was some technical problem and we need to repair that immediately,” Jakosalem said.
He said he noticed that the mall had no closed-circuit security camera and that the guards seemed lax about inspecting incoming shoppers.
Jakosalem said the jewelry shop owner had earlier asked mall management to increase the number of security guards in the complex.
The heist took place at 3:55 p.m., just a few minutes before dismissal of classes at nearby schools.
The robbers were in their late 20s and early 30s. They were armed with .45 caliber pistols, .38 caliber revolvers and assault rifles.
Police said three people were inside Golden Treasures at that time. They were Aireen Young, the daughter of the owner Albert; security guard Rudolph Ramos and a customer.
One robber entered, pretending to be a customer. He was followed by three others who pointed guns at the guard and told him not to move.
One robber was posted at the door leading to the third floor parking lot while another waited inside a white Nissan Sentra sedan.
Ramos, the security guard, said he was told to drop to the floor.
“Buto-buto dayon akong nadunggan (Then I heard something explode),” he said.
When Ramos looked up, he saw the robbers hammering the glass display racks. They grabbed jewelry pieces, stashed them inside a black bag then ran to a waiting car on the third floor parking area.
Another security guard who was alerted by radio, Rafael Garcia, tried to stop the white Nissan Sentra but he was shot at by the robbers. The bullet missed him and hit the windshield of a Toyota Tamaraw FX.
The security guard said he was not able to draw his gun because he was taken by surprise. He said he was only told the driver had run amuck on the third floor and was not aware they were robbers.
Leslie Llera, head guard of the mall, said one of the robbers aimed his rifle at him when he ran upstairs to check reports that an armed man was on the third floor.
Llera said he did not make any move as the robbers entered their vehicle and sped off.
Joel Tacud, a cook of an adjacent restaurant, said he saw the robber grab the bag of a woman before leaving the parking area.
“Nakita ko yong babae tinutukan pa ng baril bago kinuha yong bag (I saw the robber pointing a gun at the woman before grabbing her bag),” Tacud said.
Police later found the white Nissan Sentra Ex-Saloon ( GEG-907) at the corner of Ma. Christina Extension Road and Juana Osmeña Extension.
They found a bullet hole in the left windshield and a bloodstain on the rear door. One of the robbers may have been wounded by glass shards when shots were fired, said police.
Inside the car were a black rifle bag and a rusty .38 revolver with a broken handle.
Witnesses reported seeing the car come from Elizabeth Pond St. Upon reaching Ma. Christina Extension, a man in a red shirt with an M-16 rifle got down and walked casually to Juana Osmeña Street.
The vehicle travelled about 30 meters farther to the corner of Ma. Christina Extension and Juana Osmeña Street, where passengers then transferred to a red car that was tailing the white Nissan Sentra. /with a report from Correspondent Justin Anjuli K. Vestil
