Tagum City mall robbed of P500K in cash, valuables by hammer-wielding men

INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

TAGUM CITY, Philippines – Hammer-wielding robbers carted away at least P500,000 in cash and other valuables from a mall late Tuesday in this city, police on Wednesday said.

Using sledgehammers, the robbers broke into the City Star Shopping Center in Apokon village and emptied its cash vault of about P500,000 cash, said SPO1 Brigido Lagula, the Tagum City police investigator.

The heist occurred even as there were three security guards on duty at the establishment at the time.  It was the latest in the spate of robberies that have hit the city in recent months, alarming traders and local officials.

“According to the guards they have not heard any unusual noise or pounding sounds due to the blaring speakers of a karaoke bar nearby,” Lagula told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview, adding the guards, whom he did not identify, would be investigated.

The break-in was reported to the city police around 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s robbery was the second to hit the establishment this year. Last January, unidentified persons also broke into the shopping center, taking away about P300,000 of cash and other valuables.

Lagula suspected the previous case might have been an inside job as “there was no evidence of forced entry.”

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