A security camera (located at the right side of the air condition unit of the photo) recorded the heist but the robbers outsmarted it.
For the third time, an LBC courier outlet in Tabok, Mandaue City was robbed by two armed men who barged into the office yesterday morning.
They walked out with at least P5,000 cash, the standby fund of the courier and freight forwarding outlet.
The hold-up was recorded by a security camera, but the faces of the intruders were unrecognizable since they wore full-faced motorycle helmets.
The LBC outlet never hired a security guard after being held up twice last year but the management installed the closed circuit television camera as a deterent and to aid any crime investigation.
Yvet Pamela Consultado, a customer associate of the LBC outlet, said the armed men suddenly entered the outlet at 11:20 a.m. and locked the door.
One of them pulled out a .45 caliber pistol, fired a warning shot at the ceiling and declared a hold-up.
Consultado called the Basak police station some 20 minutes later to report the heist. By the time police arrived, the gunmen were gone.
She told Inspector Genilo Veraque that the robbers entered after grabbing the LBC’s watchman, and forced him inside as they entered. The watchman is an unarmed civilian posted outside the outlet, who does other errands for the office.
No one was injured in the encounter.
The hold-uppers ordered one female customer to sit down and was barred from leaving.
Consultado said she didn’t hesitate to open her drawer and hand over the P5,000 standby office fund when the robbers demanded for the outlet’s money.
There was a little more cash from the day’s earning but she said the total amount was a little more than P5,000.
The hold-uppers fled onboard a motorcycle that headed north passing the national highway.
Police investigator PO3 Heracleo Gamboa said authories had advised the management of LBC to hire a security guard since they had been robbed twice before.
Instead of doing that, the LBC outlet installed a closed circuit TV camera installed in the premises.
Custodio explained that the management had also adopted the policy of not keeping large amounts of cash in the office.
The same LBC outlet was robbed of P5,000 by two armed men in September 9 last year but responding police were able to arrest them a few minutes later not far from the
outlet where they were about to board a motorcycle-for-hire.
Police arrested Arvin Mabuyo, 26, and Glenn Flores, 29, both natives of Cagayan de Oro city who were living in Zone 6, Barangay Buaya, Lapu-Lapu City.
They were the same robbers behind the heist of the LBC outlet in May 5, 2013 wherein they took P10,000 and were able to disappear.
The two men were also identified as suspects in the attempted robbery of an M. Lhuillier Pawnshop in barangay Pajac a few minutes before the September heist of LBC Tabok Mandaue.
Since the two men are still behind bars in the Mandaue City Jail, police said another group was involved in yesterday’s heist.
Investigation to identify the perpetrators is still in progress.