Suspect in killings of 4 bank guards falls

One of the country’s 20 most wanted men tagged in the killings of four security guards in bank robberies in Metro Manila and Cavite finally fell into the hands of the police last Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Benjamin de los Santos, investigation and intelligence division chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said the suspect, Antonio Solis, was arrested in his hideout at Mary Homes Subdivision in Barangay Molino 4, Bacoor, Cavite.

He said Solis was an active member of the Ampong Colangco robbery gang which was behind 26 bank heists — including 12 in Metro Manila, five in the Calabarzon area, and four in Central Luzon and other parts of the country — in the last quarter of 2004.

De los Santos said Solis was implicated in the killings of two security guards of RCBC Muntinlupa branch when the robbery gang struck there on June 10, 2004.

Solis was also tagged in the killings of a security guard of the Development Bank of the Philippines branch in Dasmariñas, Cavite during a robbery on Nov. 10, 2003, and another guard of Banco de Oro’s SM City branch in Quezon City on April 5, 2004.

In January 2004, De los Santos said Solis shot it out with Quezon City policemen in Barangay Commonwealth, killing PO3 Julio Husmalaga and wounding SPO4 Celso Jeresano.