Gang man tagged in latest bank heist

MANILA, Philippines - A suspected member of a robbery gang – tagged in another bank heist three years ago – has been identified to be among those in a band of armed men who robbed a bank along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City last July 15.

The same man was seen brandishing a long firearm in the middle of the avenue to clear the way for the group’s escape as his cohorts were going out of the bank, said Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

In an interview Friday, Marcelo said a witness saw the gang man with his face not fully covered by a bonnet, holding “his firearm as if to scare off motorists in order to clear the road.”

QCPD director Chief Superintendent George Regis said the man is among those to be charged with “robbery in band” in connection with the July 15 robbery. Police officials asked members of media not to divulge the identity of the armed man pending the filing of charges.

Police investigators have yet to file the case before the city prosecutor’s office since they are still trying to identify the others who staged the afternoon heist.

The bank has yet to submit an accounting of the exact amount the robbers managed to take away from its tellers, Regis said. The robbers failed to open the bank vault.

Repeat offender

According to Marcelo, the gang man last posted bail early this year for illegal possession of a firearm.

Marcelo said the man was among those tagged in the robbery of a Land Bank of the Philippines branch along West Avenue in January 2008.

The police official said the man is known to be among the remnants of the Ampang Colangco robbery group.

Police said there were 21 heavily armed robbers who staged the July 15 heist. Marcelo earlier said the entire robbery lasted only four minutes, with each of the gang men – carrying high-powered guns like M14 and M16 rifles and M203 grenade launchers – seemingly aware where they should be headed once inside the bank.

Of the 21, a total of 12 robbers entered the bank at 4:25 p.m. Nine of them went through the basement entrance, a portion of the bank where only services for payments of bills and deposits were available.

Two of these nine men robbed the two tellers there. The remaining seven went up to the main floor, where all services were available.

The seven robbers were then joined by three more who had entered through the door on the main floor, and they took the cash from five teller booths. They also took cell phones from three employees there and a laptop computer.

Marcelo said the gang even had cohorts outside the bank, shooting at policemen while their cohorts were still inside or about to come out.

Patrolling policemen chanced upon the robbers and engaged them in a gunfight until the robbers fled.