A ROBBER was killed while another was wounded after they robbed a bank and held hostage a bank employee in Carcar City yesterday morning.
Killed on the spot was Nelson Igoy Gutierrez Jr. while his companion Ricoly Igoy survived with three gunshot wounds after they allegedly engaged responding policemen in a shootout.
Authorities came while the two were still inside Rural Bank of Cebu South Inc. in Barangay Poblacion after the manager, Webster Morales, slipped through a back door and ran to the police station some 400 meters away.
Morales happened to be out of sight when Gutierrez and Igoy barged inside the bank at 9:40 a.m. The commotion ended at 10:15 a.m.
Police recovered two .45 pistols from the two suspects, an ID card, a professional driver’s license and P167,191 cash from Gutierrez’ pocket.
The police also seized Igoy’s Honda Wave motorcycle parked outside the bank. A cardboard temporary plate number written in black marker concealed the original plate
number.
Two hours later, a green Mitsubishi Lancer, with five bullets for a .45 pistol, a black helmet, black jacket, and blue camouflage uniforms similar to that used by the Philippine National Police inside, was discovered at the Gaisano Carcar parking lot.
Another license plate was attached to the car. Police found the original plate stashed in the car’s baggage compartment.
The registration, found in the glove compartment, showed the vehicle was registered to an Edward Gonzaga of Barangay Cubacub, Mandaue City.
This led the police to believe that Igoy and Gutierrez have companions.
Trapped
After grabbing security guard Eldie Pacinia’s issued shotgun, Gutierrez and Igoy allegedly announced a holdup and forced one of the employees to open the vault.
All seven employees and four bank clients were shoved inside.
Nelson allegedly went out of the bank but went back inside when he saw SPO1 Meliton Agadier and SPO1 Kenneth Abella in front of the bank.
Agadier told reporters that Gutierrez acted nonchalant, and even told them that nothing was going on inside.
But when Agadier and Abella told him not to go back, he ran inside and then dragged loan processor Kashii Apostol, a former Miss Carcar pageant winner.
He also scooped a pile of cash from a sack that was full of money and instructed Igoy to grab some cash for himself. He and Igoy came out and then held a gun at Apostol’s head.
Responding police officers, though, had already surrounded them.
When Apostol managed to duck, Agadier took the chance and immediately fired at Gutierrez’ chest.
Igoy survived gunshot wounds in his right shoulder, right leg, hip and a graze wound on the forehead.
He was taken to the Carcar City District Hospital, where police questioned him, before he was transferred to a Cebu City hospital.
Manager
Gutierrez, who was familiar to some bank employees, turned out to be a former manager of Fredzon Furniture and Appliance Center in Mandaue City who was reportedly
dismissed sometime last year.
Employees of Fredzon’s sister company Cecille Enterprises, which is located just across the bank, called up their branch in the City of Naga upon learning that a Fredzon ID was recovered from Gutierrez.
They told Sun.Star Cebu that Igoy was a cashier of the same store.
The two, they said, were most likely relatives.
Supt. Teofilo Siclot, Carcar City police chief, said Igoy claimed it was Gutierrez who planned the robbery and picked the bank because he allegedly knew it well.
Igoy told the police that he went along because he needed money for a brother hospitalized for a blood clot.
He added that he did not know Gutierrez’ last name, but that they were neighbors in Barangay Soong, Lapu-Lapu City.
Identification cards recovered from Gutierrez, however, stated he was from Barangay Bangkal, Lapu-Lapu City.
Threats
A bank employee told Sun.Star Cebu that when the two men entered, they immediately began looking for the bank manager.
“Hold up ni! Bohol robbery ni!” Gutierrez allegedly shouted.
As he began attaching a silencer to his .45 pistol, Gutierrez allegedly threatened to kill them if they did not tell them where their manager was.
The employees felt even more fearful since they had no idea where Morales went. They did not know that he was already running towards the police station.
Meanwhile, a Gaisano parking aide told Sun.Star Cebu that the Mitsubishi Lancer was parked minutes before 10 a.m.
At about 11 a.m., he noticed another man enter the parking lot and peer through the tinted window of the car.
When the aide asked him what he wanted, the man ignored him and left.
Senior Supt. Carmelo Valmoria congratulated the 24 officers from the Carcar City Police Station, the Special Reaction Unit, and the Regional Mobile Group who responded to the alarm.
“I am sure this was planned and not executed at the spur of the moment,” the Cebu City Police Office director told reporters. (MEA/GAC)
