4 men rob Bulacan fastfood resto during Uwan’s onslaught

Authorities have arrested two of four men who robbed a branch of a fastfood chain in Bulacan as then Super Typhoon Uwan was starting to batter parts of the country.

According to John Consulta’s report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday, one of the suspects was seen entering the fastfood restaurant in Sta. Maria at past 4 a.m. Sunday.

CCTV footage showed the man wearing a facemask and a hoodie as he pulled the restaurant’s vault out of a room. Once outside the establishment, three other suspects helped him load it into a getaway vehicle.

Police said the group would park far from the establishment they intend to rob. One of them would break in to get to the vault. The vault would only be opened once they are already inside the vehicle.

A hot pursuit operation resulted in the recovery of the getaway vehicle, the discovery of the suspects’ hideout in Caloocan City, and the arrest of two suspects.

Authorities also recovered the vault along the North Luzon Expressway. The vault was discarded after the suspects emptied it of P300,000.

Police said the suspects were planning to rob another establishment on the day that they were arrested.

The arrested suspects said they carried out the heist out of need.

Police said one of the suspects had previous charges for illegal possession of firearms. The suspects were also armed with a caliber .38 firearm that they would use to break into business establishments.

Authorities are still conducting follow-up operations for the two other suspects who are still at large. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/JMA, GMA Integrated News