Gold trading hub ransacked

Thursday, February 2, 2012

SEVEN gold trading stalls at the second floor of Juniper Building along General Luna Road were ransacked by still unidentified robbers Tuesday night taking away around half-a-million pesos in goods, cash and scrap gold and silver.

Jerson Alipio, 42, a stay-in store keeper of Bobot Gold and Silver Shop, reported to Baguio City Police Office Station 7 that around 7:30 p.m., around five men wearing bonnets and armed with pistols and a shotgun allegedly poked their guns at him and declared hold-up while he was about to close the main door of the building.

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According to him, he also serves as the caretaker of the building and is in charge of closing the building when stall owners leave around 6 to 7 p.m.

In an interview by Sun.Star Baguio Thursday, Alipio said that after poking a gun at him, one robber allegedly hit him at the back of his head which made him unconscious while robbers allegedly tied him with a tire wire.

Police investigations revealed that the still unidentified robbers allegedly stashed away scrap gold bought by Alipio’s owners worth P200,000 and cash worth P27,000 placed inside the drawer of the shop.

Upon waking up, still disoriented, he said he was able to untie the wire coiled around his hands and managed to walk out of the building until a security guard of a nearby hotel helped him and called the cops.

Upon arriving at the crime scene, police discovered other stalls also trading in gold and silver in the building were ransecked by the robbers.

Investigators revealed that aside from what was stolen from the victim’s bosses, robbers also took away with them some 36 grams of gold worth P80,000 and 306 grams of silver worth P15, 3000 at nearby Mhel’s Gold and Silver Shop; a caliber .45 licensed pistol with two loaded magazines and 14 ammunitions worth P130,000; 30 grams of gold worth around P100,000; some 1.7 kilograms of silver worth P80,000; a piggy bank with an estimated content of P40,000; and P80,000 cash from from Son Diego Gold Rush Shop.

Another gold trading shop in the building, Job’s Trading Gold, Silver, and Broken Jewelry Shop, declared losses of 10 grams of gold worth P20,000; P15,000 cash and a 14-karat gold earring worth P5,000; while a nearby Avon Dealer and Gold-Silver Buyer declared losses of undetermined amount of coins.

Other stalls -- Balitok Sina gold trading, a dental clinic of Dr. Michael Dangawen and Edmark’s Trading -- were also ransacked with a still undisclosed losses as the owners were still not around as of press time.

Scene of the Crime Operatives found a pair of gloves and blood stains in the sofa of Bobot’s Gold and Silver Shop allegedly from injuries obtained by Alipio.

Station 7 police investigators Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Marcos Napocyag, SPO2 Bernie Tiwtiwen and SPO1 Jonathan Cawalo who went for follow-up investigation Thursday claimed they noticed a lack of security guard in the building.

Meanwhile, police investigators suggested installing closed-circuit television cameras in the building to monitor visitor movements as the victim allegedly claimed some men were already manning the entrance of the building before the incident.

However, investigators were boggled with the recounts of the victim as the building along General Luna is usually heavily populated at the time of the robbery and nobody noticed the incident until the storekeeper reported the incident.

The case is still under follow-up investigation by Station 7 operatives under Police Senior Inspector Henry Domogan.