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Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Police find ‘holes’ in bank guards tale
CEBU -- Inconsistencies were found in the statements of the four security guards on duty when the Metrobank Mabolo branch was robbed last Friday.
The guards will be subjected to lie detector tests as part of the investigation on the heist.
Acting Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Josephus Angan also ordered the police station chiefs to check the alarm systems of banks in their jurisdiction.
Acting Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) Chief Ambrosio Ibones said the lie detector test will determine holes in the guards’ testimonies.
Guards Dindo Paglalunan and Manuel Boyles could have defended the bank because the robbers did not disarm them, Ibones said.
They also had the chance to fire their guns to attract the attention of passersby when the robbers were fleeing, but they did not.
Guards Herculano Auxtero and Roberto Malaran earlier said the first man, who was unarmed and appeared like a client, showed hesitation before entering the bank.
Ibones said this alone should have made them wary of the man’s actions.
Although a lie detector test cannot be used as evidence in court, the results will serve as a guide for them in their investigation, Ibones said.
Police officials will also check on the bank’s alarm system.
Angan said that when the branch manager switched on the alarm that morning, it didn’t sound off at the Mabolo Police Station.
Instead, it rang at 2:30 p.m., making the police officers who heard it think the bank was being robbed for the second time.
“This should be the initiative of the banks, if they want to make sure their alarm systems are reliable,” Angan told reporters.
The Mabolo police only learned of the incident after a passing jeepney driver stopped by the station to inform them that the bank had been robbed.
Initially, the amount taken by the six robbers was placed at P120,000.
Angan said the public can call the police through phone numbers 232-0289, 233-2178 and 233-8310 if the Mobile Patrol Hotline 166 is busy. The three numbers are directly connected to the Mobile Patrol Group.
He explained that the hotline only had four lines connected to it, and with prank calls keeping the lines busy, it would be difficult to get through.
No arrests have been made yet and Angan wouldn’t describe the robbers as members of the Kuratong Baleleng Gang.
The TRS theorized that members of the gang were behind the heist because of the “characteristic presence” of high-powered firearms and a getaway vehicle bought for the purpose.
“Until we make an arrest, we cannot yet identify the suspects as members of a particular group,” Angan told reporters.
He said he did not want to make conclusions this early, as operations are still going on. MEA/Sun.Star Cebu |
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