Armed robbers ransack two adjacent jewellery stores in the Philippines
Published date: Fri, 09 Aug 2024 14:37:05 +0700
This is the terrifying moment armed robbers ransacked two adjacent jewellery stores in the Philippines.
CCTV footage shows the helmeted men barging into Macy's Jewelry Store in Cebu City's Carbon Public Market, and ordering terrified customers and employees to lie down on the floor on August 8.
They threatened the people with guns and emptied the store's jewellery trays before fleeing the scene on three Honda XRM motorcycles.
Police Major Philip John Libres, chief of the Carbon Police Station, said two copps were on patrol in Freedom Park, just across the public market, when the theft occurred.
He said: 'The robbers were parked on the side of the road in front of the pawnshop pretending to be motorcycle taxi drivers, but they were actually observing the police. When they saw that the two patrol officers had left, they hurried inside the jewellery stores.
'We are backtracking through the CCTV footage for possible suspects, while at the same time doing a manhunt operation.'
A Macy's saleswoman who declined to be named said: 'I was entertaining customers when I heard someone screaming outside. We saw the men entering the store carrying guns, so we just dropped to the ground. It all happened so fast, they only took seconds to steal all the items displayed.'
Police said the suspects had also robbed the DGC D' Gold Chain Jewelry Store just minutes before targetting Macy's Jewelry Store next door.
They made off with an estimated 14 million PHP (191,400 GBP) of jewellery.
Meanwhile, acting Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said he was giving local police two days to solve the robbery.
The furious politician said: 'I am very disappointed that this happened here in the City of Cebu. We will investigate this matter. I will call Cebu City Police Office Chief Police Colonel Antonietto Cañete and I will give him exactly 48 hours to solve this criminal act.'
Just last week, two people were killed and another was injured in three separate shooting incidents in Cebu City.
