Robbers break into Lucena bank, electronics store, flee with cash

Update

LUCENA CITY, Quezon –Robbers sneaked inside a bank and an electronic service center here through the drainage canal on weekend and carted away a still undetermined amount of money, police said Monday.

Police report said the employees of a rural bank in Pagbilao located in Barangay (village) Ibabang Dupay, discovered the robbery at about 8 a.m. Monday.

Investigators said the robbers went through a sewerage canal then dug a hole through the bank’s concrete floor to gain entry. Once inside, the robbers destroyed the bank vault and carted away a still undetermined amount of money.

Supt. Dennis de Leon, Lucena police chief, in a phone interview, declined from giving details on how the thieves managed to open the vault, saying they were still investigating.

The suspects also destroyed the cemented wall of the bank to gain entry to the adjacent Solid Service Electronics Center.

Report said the service center lost P5,000 cash to the robbers.

Investigators are reviewing the recorded footage from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras of the two establishments to identify the robbers.

Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, Quezon police director, who rushed to the crime scene to oversee the investigation, said the robbers forcibly opened the bank vault not with an acetylene torch but by repeated hammering.

The police chief said the loot from the bank was “minimal.”  “After the accounting by bank officials, the total loot was only minimal that’s the reason why the thieves decided to break entry to the adjacent establishment to rob some more,” Armamento said in a phone interview. He did not elaborate.

The suspects destroyed the cemented wall of the bank to gain entry to the adjacent Solid Service Electronics Center.

Report said the service center lost P5,000 cash to the robbers.  SFM