Alarm thwarts San Juan bank heist

Unidentified robbers attempted an early morning heist at an Asia Trust Bank branch in San Juan, but left empty-handed after the bank’s alarm went off after they forcibly opened the front door.

The attempt to rob the bank, located at the ground floor of the 20-story Quadrallon Mansion at the corner of N. Domingo and Paterno streets in Barangay Pasadena prompted Chief Superintendent Rolando Sacramento, director of the Eastern Police District (EPD), to order the strict implementation of a 24-hour mobile and foot patrols at all commercial and residential centers in eastern Metro Manila.

Bank manager Araceli Macabalog said the security guards’ firearms and the cash inside the vault were untouched.

Initial reports showed that the robbers tried to enter the bank by forcibly opening the front door at 1:35 a.m.

The building’s lone security guard, was patrolling the perimeter of the building when he heard the alarm.

Sacramento said the guard rushed to the front door and found it forcibly opened. He rushed inside, but found the premises empty. He then rang up the EPD operations center and reported the robbery attempt.

San Juan motorcycle units were sent to block possible exit points, but failed to spot the culprits.

"The robbers panicked after the alarm went off. They escaped before somebody could see and recognize them," Sacramento said in an interview.

The EPD director said they failed to recover any equipment the robbers used in destroying the front door.

Elements of the EPD Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) lifted fingerprints from the door of the bank for comparison with those of hardened criminals. — Non Alquitran