Hole-boring robbers abort QC bank heist; 2 suspects held

A security guard on Saturday shows the opening made in the wall of a Bank of Commerce branch in Diliman, Quezon City. Police said the robbers panicked and fled empty-handed.—PHOTO BY NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Two men were arrested by the Quezon City police early Saturday after they were seen scrambling away from a bank, where authorities who had been alerted to a burglary found a hole on one of the walls.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said members of the Anonas police station had questioned the two men who were suspected of being part of the group who bore the hole to get into a Bank of Commerce branch in Diliman, at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Masaya Street in Barangay Old Capitol.

Gun seized

Seized from one of them was a loaded 9-mm handgun, said Eleazar, who withheld their names in view of the ongoing investigation.

“We did not get anything from the other person, but he said he was willing to give a statement to authorities,” the official added.

Around 2:40 a.m., police responded to a call from the bank’s central monitoring system, after the alarm system of the Diliman branch went off.

Security camera footage obtained by the QCPD showed at least three men — all wearing face masks and caps — entering the bank through a hole in the concrete wall.

Nothing stolen

Eleazar said the arrival of the police caused the men to rush out through the hole in panic and flee in different directions.

“There were several men seen running from the scene and jumping off a nearby wall to flee,” he said.

Based on the bank’s inventory, nothing was stolen but the robbers had already managed to open a safe, which did not contain cash but documents, Eleazar added.

Recovered from the scene were several digging tools, including a hydraulic jack, two crow bars and an improvised metal drill.