Employee foils pawnshop heist

MANILA, Philippines - An alert employee of a pawnshop managed to contact the police while a robbery was in progress in Valenzuela City yesterday morning, forcing the three robbers to flee with only P500 taken from a customer.

Three armed men entered the Villarica Pawnshop branch on Gen. T. de Leon Road at around 10:40 a.m., overpowered the guard and ordered the employee to open the vault, city police chief Rhoderick Armamento said.

One of the employees alerted police officers, who arrived a few minutes later. They surprised the robbers, who fled in a taxi with only P500 taken from a customer.

A suspect, Nonito Nocuy, 29, was arrested as he was driving the taxi in Quezon City. Nocuy, who was identified by the guard as one of the robbers, admitted to participating in the heist.