Robber has coffee before heist

MANILA, Philippines - A man stopped to have coffee before he and his companion robbed a coffee shop owner and his customers of more than P200,000 worth of cash and valuables in Quezon City.

Victims told police that the robber, upon arriving at around 6 p.m. Saturday, ordered coffee and occupied one of the tables at the Cordillera Coffee Shop for around 10 minutes.

The second robber, who was armed with a .45 caliber pistol, arrived after a while and, together, they staged the heist.

Superintendent Richard Fiesta, commander of the Anonas police station, said the robbers took cash and valuables from shop owner Eli Paulo Fresnoza, 33, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines-Diliman; environmental planner Denice Melanie, 30; Pag-IBIG Fund information officer Erwin Paul David, 25; and Leo Natividad, 41, president of Origami Pilipinas.

At gunpoint, the victims were herded into the shop’s restroom. After locking the door using a tie wrap on the doorknob, the two robbers fled.