Warrants for 5 in $50,000 robbery

POLICE officers investigating the $50,000 robbery at Medford’s Gas Station on Sunday have secured warrants for five members of a gang based in Central and Port-of-Spain.

The warrants were secured yesterday by police officers investigating the hold up and robbery in Chaguanas. Newsday learned that the five gang members first went to the gas station last Sunday, a week before the robbery, dressed in clothing similar to those worn by police officers and told Winston Medford, owner of the gas station, that a silver car was seen lurking around the area. They returned around 8.30 am on Sunday and again asked for Medford. When told that he was not around, they asked for the manageress Ingrid Medford. The two men claimed to be police officers and added that they were investigating a robbery at the gas station. They then placed a gun to the neck of Medford and ordered her to hand over $50,000 from a vault. They then removed the tape from a surveillance camera.

The bandits escaped in a Nissan car which was later found abandoned at Success Street, Chaguanas. Police have secured fingerprints from the car. Investigators said yesterday that the two bandits who robbed Medford were not wearing identical police uniforms when they carried out the robbery. They claimed that the two men wore dark coloured pants, boots worn by security officers, and grey shirts. “The bandits were definitely not wearing the uniform of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, when they carried out the robbery,” said an investigator yesterday. The investigation is being spearheaded by ACP Crime Oswyn Allard, and assisted by Inspector Burt Raphael, Sgt Dennis Housend and Ag Sgt Ajith Persad.