Police are still investigating last Sunday’s robbery of the M. Lhuillier Pawnshop on Airport Road, barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City. (CDNPHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)
While most policemen were focused on maintaining order during the Sinulog Grand Parade in Cebu City, five armed men robbed an M. Lhuillier pawnshop on Airport Road, barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City and fled with a still-undetermined amount of cash and jewelry.
Johnrey Rondina, 24, pawnshop manager, told police that he was inside the pawnshop at past noon on Sunday when five men entered and introduced themselves as members of the M. Lhuillier IT auditing team.
Rondina, of barangay Buaya, Lapu-Lapu City, said three of the men even wore red M. Lhuillier uniforms while the two wore white T-shirts.
Without even verifying their identities, Abelardo Mirafuentes, 23, assistant pawnshop manager, allowed three of the men to enter the teller’s area thinking that they were the legitimate auditing team.
The men then asked to be brought to the vault and asked Mirafuentes to open it. But when the vault was opened, one of the three men pulled out a gun and declared a holdup.
The robbers then ordered Rondina, Mirafuentes and two female tellers to lie face down on the floor.
The two other suspects, who stayed in the customer’s area, told the two customers inside the pawnshop to sit down in a corner while they hurriedly switched off the circuit breaker and destroyed the security cameras’ power line.
The robbers inside the tellers’ area quickly took the cash from the cashier’s box and jewelry inside the vault. All suspects fled on board a car that was parked a few meters from the pawnshop.
The robbers hit the pawnshop at about 12:40 p.m. and were done with the heist in three minutes.
After the robbers left, Rondina pushed the button triggering an alarm, which was connected to the M. Lhuillier pawnshops’ central office in Mandaue City. The office then informed Lapu-Lapu police about the robbery.
Senior Insp. Zenaido Pastorfide, Theft and Robbery Section chief of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said the pawnshop management has asked that their auditing team make an inventory with the employees present during the robbery before they can give an estimate of what and how much they lost.
Rondina said the pawnshop had no security guard because the company has yet to complete the bidding of the security services contract.
Senior Supt. Armando Radoc, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office chief, said they are looking at all possible angles in the robbery, including an “inside job” angle especially since the robbers were allowed to enter without verifying their identities first.