Sunday, December 28, 2003
2 robbers round up P100T in 5-minute heist
By Allan I. Varquez
Sun Star Staff Reporter
TWO men ran away with over P100,000 from a pawnshop in a robbery that stunned bystanders and occupants of nearby stores on Katipunan St., Barangay Labangon, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.
The culprits escaped on a DT motorcycle while traffic on Katipunan St. was stalled.
The owner of Binglens Merchandise and Pawnshop, Evelyn Dagatan, 46, was counting money when a man in his mid-20s, armed with a revolver, broke in and announced a holdup past 4 p.m.
He then walked straight to Dagatan’s table, took the P1,000 and P500 bills she was counting and placed them in his pocket.
The man and his companion then drove towards downtown Cebu City. No shot was fired and nobody was reported injured. The robbery was over in less than five minutes.
“We screamed in fear,” salesgirl Irene Adlawan, 19, told SPO2 Isagani Pogoy of the Theft and Robbery Section of the Cebu City Police Office.
She said two old men stood outside their store looking at the glass box where mobile phones and jewelry were on display.
No guard
One of them called her and asked that they be allowed in because they were interested to buy one of the phones.
Adlawan opened the door. But just after the old men entered the shop, the robber quickly followed, pulled out a revolver and announced a holdup.
Pogoy said the robber’s companion stayed outside with the motorcycle and kept the engine running.
“Even if there was traffic, the bystanders were not able to react because the robbery happened so fast,” Pogoy said.
The robber casually walked out of the store and boarded the waiting motorcycle.
Pogoy said P100 and P50 bills littered the floor inside the store, indicating that the robber was in a hurry to get out of the scene.
He said the store did not have a security guard, who could have fought the robber.
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