BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BANDITS went on a robbery spree in St. Kitts early Friday morning (July 17) and have terrorised a number of people, depriving some of them of money, valuables and food items as well as wounding one in the head.
At approximately 3:20 a.m. on Friday, a thief broke into the home of a Dorset family, terrorised a male occupant and made off with a lap top computer, two cellular phones and a purse with an undisclosed sum of money.
According to the mother of the home, one of her sons had left his bedroom (because of the heat) to sleep on a chair in the sitting room.
“While asleep on the chair, my son said that he heard a strange noise. On opening his eyes, he saw a man with a kerchief covering his nose and mouth and he had a gun in his hand. He told my son not to get up and asked for the key to the front door. The key was on the computer and my son gave it to him. He then opened the door, ordered my son out of the house and told him to lie on the ground.”
The woman said that the bandit asked her son for money and when told that he had none, “He pushed his hands in my son’s pocket to ensure he was not lying. He then told him to lie on the ground but my son sat down. He also had an accomplice who was wearing a white vest, a green three-quarter pants and a blue and white head-tie. He too was carrying a gun”.
She explained that the bandit went back into the house while his accomplice kept watch over her son.
“He came back in the house, went into one of the bedrooms where my daughter was fast asleep and took her cell phone and a purse containing all her money. He then returned to the living room, took my son’s cell phone and also the lap top. Maybe because of the brightness of the security light at the front of the building, the thief summoned his accomplice to go to the side of the house to receive the stolen articles from through one of the windows. As the accomplice made his way to the side of the house, my son grasped the opportunity to escape.”
She however said that before escaping from the scene, her son banged on her bedroom window, ran through a nearby alley and sought refuge at his girlfriend’s home.
“Both my husband and I were asleep, and I believe the thief might have entered our bedroom if the door was not locked. We did not know what was going on until I heard the banging on our bedroom window. On entering the sitting room, we saw the front door was open. We closed it, and when I peeped through the window I saw one of the thieves on the roadway with our lap top under his arm. He was gesturing as if signalling to someone, and he then ran up the road,”
The woman said shortly after making their escape with the family’s belongings, her son called from his girlfriend’s home and explained what had transpired.
She claimed he told her that the bandit, who was in the house, had a crowbar in his hand and, on examination of the home, they realised that he had used it to open one of the kitchen windows from where he entered.
The police was notified but, on their arrival some 10 minutes after, the bandits had already disappeared.
The woman also stated that while she and the neighbours were discussing what transpired, a tenant on the upper flat of her home said she was also robbed.
“The neighbour upstairs was also robbed. It seems as if the bandits went upstairs before coming to us. Our neighbour was also asleep, and on checking she found that her radio and cosmetics were gone, as well as the bag in which she had groceries [recently bought] was unpacked and some items were missing.
Meanwhile, in Shadwell, about 100 metres from this scene, a similar incident took place.
SKNVibes learnt that about 5:00 a.m. Friday, July 17, a female resident of Shadwell Gardens was exiting her bathroom when she was confronted by an intruder armed with an ice-pick.
She screamed for help, and as the intruder advanced she fought with him and he stabbed her in the head with the ice-pick. This media house could not confirm if any item was stolen; however, like the other two, he too escaped.
Later on the same day, another robbery occurred in the Paul Southwell Industrial Site.
According to a police press release, “At about 2:10 p.m. on July 17th 2009, Police responded to a robbery report at the Paul Southwell Industrial Site. Investigations revealed that three masked men, one of whom had a firearm, entered Roy’s Eatery, held up the business proprietor and two employees, and robbed them of a sum of money.”
The release added that one of the masked men also pulled a gold chain from the neck of one of the employees before making their escape. No arrest has been made; however, investigations into the incidents are ongoing.
As a safety measure, the police are offering the following tips to business owners to prevent or minimise losses in the event of a robbery:
i. Place a surveillance camera behind the cash register facing the front counter;
ii. Keep a low balance in the cash register;
iii. Place excess money in a safe or deposit it as soon as possible;
iv. Vary times and routes of travel for bank deposits;
v. Don't use marked "moneybags" that make it obvious to would-be robbers you are
carrying money for deposit;
vi. Cooperate with the robber for your own safety and the safety of others. Comply with a
robber's demands. Remain calm and think clearly. Make mental notes of the robber's physical description and other observations important to law enforcement officers; and
Vii. If you have a silent alarm and can reach it without being noticed, use it. Otherwise, wait until the robber leaves.
