Guns, ammo stolen in attacks on security guards

WITHIN the space of two hours on Tuesday night, armed bandits held up and robbed two security guards in separate incidents at Mt Hope and Maraval, making off with a revolver, a pistol and 27 rounds of ammunition.

In one of the hold-ups, bandits stole $17,000 in cash and jewelry from a retired businessman and eight of his friends, after relieving a security guard of his firearm. The first incident occurred around 9.45 pm when an armed female security guard and her unarmed male counterpart were on duty at a UWI Field Station  located at the back of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Centre (EWMSC), Mt Hope.

Three men, two armed with guns and the other with a cutlass, walked out of bushes near the guard-booth and called out to the guards. On seeing the bandits, the male security guard abandoned his colleague and ran through some bushes. His female colleague was relieved of a .38 revolver and 12 rounds of ammunition. The bandits then ran back into the bushes and escaped. A report was made to St Joseph and officers led by PC Selwyn Hobbs and WPC Yearwood visited the scene and carried out an unsuccessful search for the bandits.

In the second incident, at around 11 pm Estate Constable Rajkumar Maharaj, 60, of Pentagon Security Services, was on duty at the home of retired businessman John Wong at Long Circular Road, Maraval. Two armed bandits called out to Maharaj at the front gate and subsequently forced their way into the compound, relieving Maharaj of his Luger nine-millimetre semi-automatic pistol and 12 rounds of ammunition. The bandits then went to the back of the house where they found Wong and eight   friends liming. They ordered the limers to “pass everything” and collected money, jewelry and other valuables amounting to $17,000. The bandits escaped in a Peugeot Sedan belonging to one of the victims. A report was made to St Clair police and officers led by Insp McEwen Allen, including Sgt Glen Hackett and PC Andre Lopez visited the scene. Up to news-time the vehicle in which the bandits escaped had not been recovered.