Monday, April 07, 2008 8 shops lose P1M By Mia E. Abellana Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TWO men who checked into a downtown hotel are believed to be responsible for the loss of almost P1 million worth of valuables from eight establishments.
The burglary was discovered at 8 a.m. yesterday, when tenants of the Market Center complex along Osmeña Blvd. arrived to open their stalls.
They found that their doors were forced open, while a vault from a money transfer firm was found pillaged in the hallway of the complex.
Two men who had checked in separately Friday night at the La Guardia Hotel had rushed out at 3 a.m., just minutes apart. The hotel occupies the top floors of the complex.
Theft and Robbery Section Chief Michael Bastes said the two are their primary suspects.
Bastes said the burglars may have been targeting the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Express Banking Center beside the complex but had difficulty getting in because of a firewall.
The brand new acetylene hose that they brought with them also could not reach the bank’s premises.
So they turned their attention to the establishments inside the complex, investigators said.
Last week, Bastes revealed that they monitored the presence of an Ozamiz-based acetylene gang in Cebu City.
The group allegedly checked into another downtown pension house across from La Guardia. The pension house sits near several pawnshops.
However, they eventually left Cebu. Bastes said they checked out the location of the pawnshops and the pension house, but it would have been difficult to carry out a heist.
Bastes said they spread stories that they were in Cebu to undergo medical examinations so they could travel abroad.
An informant told Bastes that sometimes, groups decide to arrive at the same time to confuse intelligence operatives.
The burglars used the building’s acetylene tank to break into the complex. Once inside, they used new, expensive screwdrivers to pry open the doors to the establishments.
Tracks
Records at the La Guardia Hotel showed that the suspected burglars arrived last Friday.
One of them checked in at 7 p.m. and was billeted at Room 1402. The other checked in at 10 p.m. and was given Room 1431.
However, the hotel staff could not say for sure if they were the only ones who occupied the room.
As of press time, police continued questioning the employees of the hotel.
A housekeeper said that at 3 p.m. Saturday, she already noticed muddy footprints on the hallway of the fourth floor, which led to the fire exit.
This was also near Room 1431.
The burglars did not have to bring their own acetylene tank, as the building has its own tank at the back of the building.
They also had a lot of time to break into each stall and gather the loot.
Distracted
The building’s security guard was stationed outside, in the front part of the building, while the stalls could not be viewed because of the heavy roll-up doors in the front.
The guard told investigators that the registered occupant of Room 1402 acted as a lookout.
At 10 p.m. Saturday, he allegedly kept talking to the duty guard and bought six bottles of beer while talking to him.
He kept telling the guard that he was waiting for his wife to arrive from the airport.
They talked until about 3:05 a.m. yesterday when the occupant of Room 1431 hurriedly checked out of the hotel.
Suddenly, the occupant of Room 1402 left and checked out at 3:09 a.m.
Police recovered a bag that the gang left behind after the heist.
It contained brand new screwdrivers, drills, nozzles that connected the acetylene hoses, a wrench, two pairs of scissors, a flashlight and a halogen bulb. A receipt from a local hardware store showed that the items were bought last Friday.
The Western Union Money Transfer lost P401,000 and US$1,700 (P70,903.6), which was placed inside a vault.
Alarm
Long Light Enterprises lost 13 Nokia cellphones worth P110,500 and P30 cash while E-Cube Electronics Sales and Services lost P55,000 cash and two digital cameras brought in for repair.
Salem DVD and Cellshop lost almost P30,000 from a drawer and four cellular phones and three MP3 players brought in for repair while Inkman was robbed of P8,000 cash.
An optical clinic and law office lost P110,000 cash while Brother J Merchandise and DVD Tapes lost P800.
Khodzaifa Spa and Beauty Salon and Rica’s Travel Services lost almost P150,000.
Coincidentally, an alarm system alerted the Mobile Patrol Group at 5 a.m. yesterday.
However, Bastes said the patrol car passed by the establishment and saw that nothing was going on as the roll-up doors remained intact.
