BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ONCE again, bandits have burglarised a home in the Frigate Bay area. This time, however, it is not the home of expatriates but that of former Minister of National Security Dwyer Astaphan.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Astaphan said the burglary had taken place sometime last night or early this morning (Apr. 16) while he and his son were out of the house.
“My son and I were out last night and on our return home just after five o’clock this morning, we found the house ransacked and the perpetrator or perpetrators went with two flats screen TVs, a 50-inch and a 32-inch, a Japanese Samurai sword, just under US$1,000 and some personal effects.”
The social activist said a report was made and officers at the Frigate Bay Police Station had responded along with a member of the Crime Scene Unit who dusted areas of his home for prints.
He insinuated that the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators would soon be revealed to him and the police from the security system he had erected on his premises.
“We have video footage and that will be looked at by the police and ourselves. and I am also In addition to the police, I am doing my own investigation and I am offering a reward of EC$5, 000 to any person who can identify the perpetrator or perpetrators and locate the stolen items.
“If anybody contacts me about the crime, either in person or anonymously, it will remain confidential. They do not have to be afraid of their identity being revealed. They can contact me on my cell at 662-4921 or my office at 466-6541.”
Astaphan said he would forgive the bandits should they return the stolen items.
“As a matter of fact, even if the perpetrators come to me and return the items and being contrite, stating that they had made a mistake, I will drop the matter and have a reconciliatory conversation with them and advise that they could do better; for all of us are sinners.
“But people are not supposed to go into others’ houses and take up things that don’t belong to them, because they don’t know whether they would come out or whether they would kill people in there. That is a very, very drastic and extreme thing to do and I prefer to know that if people want something they should ask.”
Asked if his movements were monitored last night, Astaphan said, “One would never know in this day and age. There are properties on both sides of mine and in recent the past a trespasser was seen on one of them and he was picked up on the camera, while the other one was burglarised.”
Astaphan said he was made to understand that his property was not the only one in the area that was burglarised last night.
In a message to the burglar or burglars, Astaphan said: “There are better ways of gathering things that you want, better ways than going into people’s properties and stealing them, because if I was at home somebody or people could have ended up dead last night.”
He is calling on citizens and resident of St. Kitts and Nevis not to purchase any of the stolen items if approached, but to do what is right and just.
Over the years, a number of burglaries were committed in the Frigate Bay area and the police have since been issuing safety tips to residents for its prevention.
The more recent of these incidents recorded by SKNVibes was when residents of a multi-unit building at Half Moon Courtyard were robbed of some US$4,500 and EC$200 by two masked, armed bandits.
