Antipolo thrift bank loses P1 M to robbers

A thrift bank in Antipolo City lost P1 million in cash to four suspected members of the Acetylene Gang Wednesday night.

Senior Superintendent Leocadio Santiago, Rizal police director, said the Real Thrift Bank branch on Imperial street in Barangay San Roque, Antipolo City was the third thrift bank burglarized by the gang in Rizal this year.

Santiago said the suspects, one of them a woman, used an electric drill to bore a hole to gain entry to the bank. Once inside, they forcibly opened the bank’s vault using an acetylene torch.

The robbers also robbed the nearby Jianshe Power Cycle Inc. of P7,000 cash.

Bank security guard Dindo Betonio discovered the robbery when he reported for work at 9 a.m. yesterday.

Prior to the robbery, Santiago said four people, one of them identifying herself as Ana Mendoza, rented a house near the bank.