Thief uses syringe to rob high-end watch shop

A man armed with a syringe and a piece of cloth dipped in a chemical robbed a luxury watch shop inside the Hyatt Hotel, according to a report in GMA News’ “State of the Nation" late Monday. The suspect was caught on CCTV cameras, pacing back and forth in front of the shop before he finally entered. According to the shop saleslady, whose name was withheld for security reasons, the man entered and wrestled her from behind. The suspect then tried to stab her with the syringe, but she deflected it. The saleslady said that she wanted to scream and alert the shops around her, but the suspect went on to cover her mouth and nose with a piece of cloth, which she recalled as “amoy kemikal," before she blacked out. It took the saleslady nearly half an hour to regain consciousness but the suspect had by then stolen nearly 50 high-end watches, including Technomarine and Tag Heuer, and Rolex Oyster series which cost upwards of P500,000 each. This isn’t the first time a luxury watch shop has been robbed. One of the more prominent cases happened in 2009 when six armed men in bomb squad uniforms robbed a watch shop in Greenbelt 5. Authorities eventually caught up with the robbers, known as the Alvin Flores Gang, in Cebu where four group members were killed in an encounter with government agents. Since the Greenbelt 5 incident, surveillance systems have been improved in crime-prone parts of Metro Manila. Nearly P40 million in “donations" from the private sector were used to fund the new CCTV monitoring equipment. According to the Manila Police District (MPD) theft and robbery division, this is the first robbery case wherein a suspect used a syringe and handkerchief as weapons. The case is currently being investigated by the MPD. — Bea Cupin/VS, GMA News