Bank robbed by its own security guard
By Julie M. AurelioPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Here’s one guard who lived up to the name of the security firm he worked for, just not in the way its owners would probably have wanted their workers to.
Reynante Gante, a security guard of Audacious Security Services Inc., is now being sought by the police after he held up the bank he was assigned to on Friday.
Twelve employees of the Chinabank Branch on E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue in Barangay Damayang Lagi said that they were about to go home on Friday night when Gante took out his service firearm and herded them inside a room where he locked them up.
He then took from the vault some money before he escaped on his motorcycle, according to case investigator SPO1 Joselito Gagaza.
Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo of the Quezon City Police District’s criminal investigation unit said they had yet to determine how much money the guard was able to get away with.
Initial investigation showed that the employees were working beyond normal banking hours on Friday as they were trying to get their workload done before the weekend.
Only the branch manager Raquel Samala was not around as she had already gone home.
At around 7:30 p.m., bank operations assistant Renee Rose Avendano said that they were all done and had gathered at the lobby to wait for Gante to open the front door which had been locked.
At that time, the security guard was at the second floor of the building but one of the employees went to fetch him as the others were getting impatient.
Avendano said they were surprised when Gante came down, his gun drawn, and announced the heist.
She added that he apologized to them and assured them that they would not be hurt as long as they followed his instructions.
He then separated Avendano and bank cashier Reynante Yu from the group while he herded the rest into a room which he locked.
But before he did, he took their cell phones and other valuables.
Gante later ordered Avendano and Yu to open the bank vault and take out some of the money and place it in a brown box.
Having no more use for Avendano and Yu, he locked them up with the other workers.
One of the employees, however, managed to hide his other cell phone from Gante and used it to call Samala, the branch manager, for help.
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