CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – THREE men, who were assisting police on Nevis with their investigations into the early Monday morning (Oct. 6) armed robbery of Glendon Fordyce of Stoney Grove, were charged with Burglary.
Omar Walters, Germaine Wilkerson and Shawriff Williams, all of Cotton Ground, were apprehended on Tuesday (Oct. 7) and subsequently charged with Burglary on Friday (Oct. 10).
The three men and another man, who the police are yet to apprehend, had allegedly broke into Fordyce’s Stoney Grove home and robbed him of a quantity of gold jewellery, cash and a large quantity of alcoholic beverages.
According to Fordyce, a native of Guyana who is a Reservist of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, after securing his home on Sunday night he was watching a movie while on his bed and fell asleep sometime after 11:00 p.m., but he forgot to turn off the TV.
“I woke up at about 2:00 a.m., headed to the bathroom and on my return to the bedroom I turned off the TV. However, 30 seconds after returning to my bedroom, three men, who were wearing hoodies with kerchiefs concealing parts of their faces, barged into my bedroom. Two of them were armed with handguns and the third one had a machete while a fourth man stood guard outside the house.
“One of the gunmen said, ‘Freeze’, while the other gunman using the F-word said, Don’t ......move.’ I complied and while one of the thieves pulled a gold ring off my finger, another one relieved me of my gold identification band. They also asked me where the money that I won at Mickey Slack was, and I told them that I had already used it.”
The Four Seasons Resort’s employee said that the men tied his hands and feet with a green polythene rope, tore one of his pillow cases and tied his mouth with it.
Fordyce however explained that although he feared losing his life, he resorted to his military training and set himself free.
“While they were tying my hands, I created a few inches between the two as taught during my military training. This gave me the desired movement to release my hands. During this time, while they were upturning my mattress, where they found a gold chain that I had hidden under the bed, I used the opportunity to somewhat ease the cloth they had tied over my nose and mouth without none of them taking notice. I was panting for breath, and if I did not free my hands and ease the cloth, I might have suffocated.”
He said that in addition to the ring, chain and identification band, the thieves took US$960 he had in a folder that houses his driver’s licence and credit card.
“These men were not satisfied with what they had taken from me. So they raided my fridge and carted off more than 36 bottles of Heineken, Carib and Stag Beers. They also took a quantity of Guinness, two bottles of wine and a bottle of Champagne. They also consumed two bottles of beers in my house, but they were clever enough not to leave the empties within or in proximity of my home,” Fordyce said.
He explained that the thieves spent approximately one hour in his home, and after freeing his feet on their departure he went to investigate “how they managed to get into my house”.
The Army Reservist discovered that they had tried to enter from the back door, but after “picking the two locks they were unable to dislodge the draw bolt I had recently installed”.
“They however gained entry through the front door because I had forgotten to secure it with the draw bolt,” he added.
Fordyce explained that after making the discovery and ensuring that the thieves had left the vicinity, he called out to a neighbour whose relative is a Corporal in the Royal St. Christopher Police Force and she summoned the police at Charlestown Police Station.
“I must commend the police for their quick response. I explained to them what transpired and they immediately set about their investigative process,” he said.
Fordyce told this media house that although his loss was tremendous for a poor hard-working man, he was fortunate not to have lost his life or suffered any injury at the hands of the thieves, which he attributed to his prayers to God during the ordeal.
He also said that the gold chain was valued at EC$13 000, finger ring EC$5 400 and the identification band at EC$6 000, but he could not have put a price to the alcoholic beverages.
Fordyce has since changed his locks and installed additional security systems to his home.
The three accused are still in custody and, according to a police source, they were scheduled to appear at the Magistrate’s Court in Nevis today (Oct. 13) to seek their pre-trial freedom, but because of the “storm watch they will have to do so tomorrow”.
