Cops crack Sando mall case

SOUTHERN Division police believe they have solved the weekend jewelry heist at the Edan Centre Mall, San Fernando, following an early morning raid on a house in Pt Fortin yesterday. A man was held with a loaded revolver, $60,000 in jewelry and uniforms belonging to a security company whose officers were contracted to guard the mall. The 27-year-old suspect will be placed on a series of identification parades before being slapped with several criminal charges. Police said the arrest came following intense investigations by San Fernando CID officers, under direct supervision of Southern Division head Snr Supt Desmond Lambert.

According to police reports, around 1 am yesterday a team of officers armed with guns and a search warrant, led by Cpl Matthew Noel and including PCs Neptune, Sookhoo and Cowie, stormed a house at Cap-de-Ville Road, Pt Ligoure, Pt Fortin and held the suspect. During a search of the house, the officers reportedly found and seized a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver loaded with six rounds of ammunition, $60,000 worth of silver jewelry and uniforms belonging to a security firm whose officers were contracted to guard the Edan Centre Mall. Up to late yesterday, officers were busy trying to get in touch with store owners, whose shops were broken into on the weekend, in order for the victims to attend the suspect’s ID parade and also identify the recovered jewelry, most of which were silver items. The revolver has since been sent to the Forensic Science Centre for testing.

Thieves were said to have tricked a security guard at the San Fernando mall on Saturday morning, before escaping with over $80,000 in items. According to police reports, around 2.45 am on Saturday, the security guards at the mall located on Upper High Street, San Fernando, heard knocking on the front glass doors of the mall, and on checking saw four men dressed in the same security uniform. The guard on duty thought the four men were security guards who had come to relieve him of his shift. On being allowed into the mall, the intruders tied up the guard and smashed the windows to several stores, removing a quantity of items including jewelry, watches, cellular phones and CDs. Well after the bandits escaped, the guard who had been tied up, freed himself and alerted the police. Cpl Matthew Noel of San Fernando CID is investigating.