Barataria restaurant robbed, maxi held up along PBR

The bandits were said to have made off with at least $11,000 in items and cash.

According to reports, at about 8 pm on Tuesday, two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, stormed into the Wong Kong Restaurant located on the Eastern Main Road in Barataria and announced a hold-up.

The men relieved the conductor of the roulette table of $5,000 and an iphone 6 mobile phone, with an estimated value of $6,000.

The men then made their escape on foot.

The two men were said to be of African descent, and one was said to be clad in a red t-shirt, and had a cap over his face, while the other was said to be clad in a blue t-shirt. Police are now on the hunt for the two bandits.

A little over 12 hours later, another robbery was committed, this time in a red band maxi, which was making its way along the Priority Bus Route.

One of the victims, who wished to keep her name anonymous recounted the traumatising ordeal, which occurred at about 9.30 am yesterday.

“It was just a brazen robbery,” said the victim who works in the Port-of-Spain area.

The victim said she boarded the maxi taxi yesterday morning as it was passing through the Arouca area, but when the driver picked up a suspicious looking passenger in the San Juan area near the Croisee, she became worried.

“We passed through a few roadblocks and, although we were not stopped by any police officers, the man seemed to slump down in his seat every time we got close to police.

“The man was fidgeting and acting very strangely.” Her fears were realised as they crossed under the flyover in the Beetham area.

The man stopped the maxi, then as he went to pay, he whipped out a firearm and announced a robbery.

The man then proceeded to rob the taxi driver of cash and the occupants of jewellery, cellphones and other items.

The man then hopped out of the maxi with his loot in hand, and escaped on foot, across the Priority Bus Route and along the Eastern Main Road.

A report was later made to the police about the incident.

The victim told Newsday yesterday that while she believes that persons should be more aware while travelling, it seems that there is not much that commuters can do to protect themselves from bandits.

Investigations into both incidents are ongoing.