Robbery at a Rolex AD

Last weekend, six men armed with rifles and grenade launchers dressed in bomb squad uniforms entered the Washington Jewelry stores at Greenbelt V, Makati City., Philippines Washington Jewelry is one of the local authorized distributors of Rolex and Tudor watches. After gaining entry on the pre-text that they were looking for a bomb, the six armed men started smashing display cases and taking the watches displayed there.

Two police officers assigned as security aides of Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tiñga chanced upon robbers while the crime was in progress, The two security aides, Senior Police Officer 1 Cesar Tiglao and Police Officer 1 Efren Ceniza Jr., were members of the elite Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT). Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the two police officers attempted to stop the robbery, engaging the robbers with their .45 caliber handguns.

In the ensuing gunfight, one of the robbers was killed while another robber was injured. The five remaining robber, including their injured member were able to escape using their high powered firearms to cover their retreat out of the building.

The body of the dead robber was identified as Armando Domingo, and recovered with his body were a .45 caliber pistol and an M16 Armalite rifle with an M203 grenade launcher. Domingo was carrying a tennis bag containing Rolex watches that he was attempting to take from the store. While the no Rolex watches were taken, a store official said the robbers managed to take away 64 pieces of Tudor watches worth a total of P6 million.

As a watch community we should not let this type of brazen acts continue. They got the watches, but not the papers. While we cannot stop armed me from stealing watches, we should make sure that we do not buy, and report persons who are selling stolen products. If there is no market for this hot watches, than there will be no recurrence of this type of crime.