Grocery store in Mambusao robbed

By RALPH JOHN MIJARES

MAMBUSAO, Capiz — A grocery store on Samson St., Brgy. Poblacion Tabuc here has been robbed by still unidentified suspects.

The culprits carted away P31,921 worth of cash and grocery items from Naning Supermart, owned by Lydia Arevalo, mother of Sangguniang Bayan member Elmer Arevalo.

Police said the incident happened at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.

The cashier, 39-year-old Lydia Feguroa, discovered the burglary upon entering the store at around 7 a.m.

Feguroa found out that their cash register was open and some grocery items were disorganized.

SPO1 Loy Jay Fantilaga said there could be more than three suspects involved.

Among the items taken were coffee, cigarettes and cans of powdered infant milk. The security guard’s service firearm, placed under the cashier’s table, was also lost.

Fantilaga said the suspects could be minors.

Initial investigation found out evidence suggesting that the robbers were eating ice cream and drinking soda, he said.

Fantilaga said the suspects gained entry to the establishment through an unlocked window on the third floor.

The grocery store was on the building’s first floor. School supplies, among other items, were displayed on the second floor, while a restaurant was located on the third floor.

They climbed up the second-floor terrace on the front portion of the building.

When they discovered that the terrace door was locked, they crossed toward the roof of an adjacent one-storey building and, from there, climbed up the third-floor terrace.

The third-floor terrace door was locked, too, so they entered through the window and made their way down to the first floor, said Fantilaga.
At the back of the building was the Arevalo family’s residential compound.

There had been similar burglary cases in Mambusao in the past, Fantilaga said.

Insp. Chrismar Angelo Casilana, Mambusao police chief, said the grocery store had no closed-circuit television cameras or security guard at night.

The establishment’s security guard, 37-year-old Renante Gregore, was not on duty at the time of the incident, Fantilaga said. His caliber .38 revolver, left under the cashier’s table, may have been stolen, too.

Mambusao police are currently hunting the suspects./PN