15 armed men rob armored van in Quezon City mall

MANILA, Philippines - About 10 to 15 men, using high-powered firearms, repeatedly shot at an armored van at the parking area of a Quezon City mall yesterday afternoon and took away four duffel bags of money from the van.

Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego, director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said the suspects attacked the armored van of Mandarin Security Agency at the ground level parking space of Waltermart on EDSA near Muñoz that was supposed to transport collections from various stores before 3 p.m.

At least three people were confirmed to have sustained bullet wounds: security guard Naldo Guimban and Michelle and Rachel Almazan. They were brought to a nearby hospital.

There were also unverified reports that four other people sustained various injuries – roving teller Jason Arienda and three others identified as John Ray Reyes, Jon Castre, and Araly Guiag.

There were also reports that a grenade was used in the robbery.

“A number of armed men, about 10 to 15, staged the attack, targeting the armored van and the security guards manning it,” said Superintendent Gerardo Ratuita, head of the QCPD-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), noting that the security guards were able to shoot back at the robbers.

Talking to The STAR last night, one of the guards of Mandarin Security Agency said the collections taken away by the suspects were contained in four duffle bags.

“When we escorted our moving teller into the armored van, the men suddenly appeared and opened fire and so we immediately grabbed our guns,” security escort Rollyvic Temporado told The STAR.

According to Temporado, the still undetermined amount of money consisted of collections from stalls and stores in the mall and supposed to be deposited in a bank.

Temporado said he saw at least five armed men, but he said he thought there were more who staged the attack.

During a press conference after the robbery, Waltermart assistant vice president for business and development Jojo de Guzman said it was the first time that such an incident happened at the mall, which opened in May last year.

Ratuita told reporters that four M203 shells were found at the crime scene, indicating that the suspects were using high-powered guns.

He added that the suspects left the mall in a Ford Expedition that was later abandoned along one of the streets in nearby Barangay Veterans Village, where the suspects reportedly boarded a Toyota Revo.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano of the QCPD-CIDU also said five men, including Temporado, were brought to Camp Karingal for questioning.

Senior Police Officer 3 Jerry Abad identified the four others as Marvin Suazo, a company messenger; Roger Mumba, a technician; Rufino Malano, a family driver and Calixto Sibog, also a security escort of the armored van.

“They are not considered as suspects. They were just taken into custody to get their statements since they were at the exact site when the incident happened,” Elenzano told The STAR.

De Guzman said the entire mall was shut down immediately after the incident. However, he said operations would resume at 10 a.m. today.

Mall officials said in a statement that they set up a telephone hotline, 332-1015, to “assist families of those who may be inside and rest assured that we will be giving you information as it becomes available.”