4 men take P.3M from Caloocan money shop

Police are after four heavily armed men who robbed a money-lending firm of some P.3 million Saturday in Caloocan City.

The unidentified suspects barged into the Armando Lending Investor office at Room 404, Twin Heart Building on A. Mabini street, Caloocan City at around 4:10 p.m.

Inspector Romeo Onte, Caloocan City police Station Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB) chief, said the robbers, armed with an M-16 Armalite rifle, a shotgun, a caliber .38 revolver and a .45 automatic pistol, disarmed the establishment’s lone security guard Mauricio Flores, 40, of his service firearm. Flores, of the Montana Security Agency, was not able to resist due to the suspects’ number and superior weapons, police said.

Alma Torreon, 24, the firm’s accountant, however, was reportedly pistol-whipped by one of the suspects for trying to oppose their order that she hand-over them the money.

After scooping the firm’s collections amounting to some P300,000 from Torreon’s drawer, the suspects escaped aboard a waiting gray car with plate number TAX 650, the police added.

According to witnesses, they overheard the suspects talking in Visayan.

The Caloocan City police tried to chase the suspects who fled with their loot towards Manila but failed to catch up with them. – Pete Laude