RED Police Capture Armed Robbers in River Valley

There have been a string of violent robberies of late in the Belize District and with the Easter holidays upon us, the police are asking residents to be careful. The most recent robbery was perpetuated by two armed thieves but from all accounts, it also involved a trio in a getaway vehicle. On Wednesday, a gas station in Scotland Halfmoon was robbed; the manager and two customers were held up, threatened and had to hand over cash and belongings. But the thieves did not get too far when police nabbed them and in fact rescued one from an attack by a cow. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

It was business as usual on Wednesday at the River Valley Supplies and Gas Station in Scotland Halfmoon when two robbers pounced on the establishment. The men, dressed in Fort Point Security uniforms stormed into the shop through a back entrance; one with a nine-millimeter firearm in hand. Manager Benjamin Schrock and a patron were assaulted with the firearm before they were robbed of their belongings.

Benjamin Schrock

Benjamin Schrock, Manager, River Valley Supplies and Gas Station

“One person was here; just had eaten her lunch and was hanging out with a friend of hers, a customer. And the guys came through the back with their gun and I mi inside and they laid me on the ground. And then they gone outside and then they got the customer and the next worker, bring them in, put them on the ground and ask for money and phones. We gave them phones and money and haul down the TV screen.”

The loot—over eleven hundred dollars in cash, cell phones, deodorants and other store items—was stuffed into a knapsack before the two robbers fled through the back door, from which they came. The duo made their way into bushes some four hundred yards away where they hid from police. The Rural Rapid Response Team was immediately dispatched and after perusing the surveillance footage at the store, they began combing the area for the men, who were believed to be hiding nearby.

Edward Broaster

ACP Edward Broaster, Regional Commander, Rural Eastern Division

“Our Rural Rapid Response then canvassed the area where one of our officers, who is an expert in tracking, led the team of officers to an area in the jungle where they accosted the two individuals; one of whom ran into a pasture and was attacked by a cow and the officers were quick enough to rescue him from that danger and took him out the pasture. In the jungle, the officers recovered all the properties that were stolen from the gas station and the patrons including the firearm and the ammunition.”

Late into the evening, twenty-two year old Trevor McFoy and a minor were captured as they exited a cattle pasture in proximity to the gas station. A black Toyota four-runner SUV with taxi license plates and three alleged conspirators to the crime were intercepted in the process.

Trevor McFoy

ACP Edward Broaster

“The investigation showed that these individuals were going to hide out in the bushes and camp until our investigation was done and we left the area. But the officers were diligent in their pursuit and uncovered information where the getaway vehicle which is a black four-runner was supposed to come and pick the two robbers up. So they waited in the jungle as well and sure enough the taxi came to pick up the robbers and he was also apprehended and arrested.”

All five suspects were detained and taken to the Ladyville Police Station.  While one was from the Lord’s Bank Community in Ladyville, all others were from Belize City. Assistant Commissioner Edward Broaster says that it is a trend that they are seeing from recent robbery incidents in that jurisdiction.

ACP Edward Broaster

“We had the robbery at Altun Ha, Sarkis Abou Nahra, Scotland Halfmoon so we are asking people to be more vigilant because if they see something, hear something and they might just stop something. We are also looking to see if they have anything to do with the Altun Ha robbery. And it is quite apparent that because of the defense we have established within Ladyville proper, they are going out within the rural communities that do not see this type of crime.”

The gas station has open at that location for over fifteen years and Schrock says this is the first time that an they’ve been robbed.

Benjamin Schrock

“I was surprised; first time this ever happened to me and when I was first on the ground I asked is this real? I hear about people being robbed and held up and they laid out on the ground. I was think this is me on the ground. But I wasn’t as frightened as you might have think and I try pray a lee bit asking God to help me not to be afraid and thing.”

McFoy and the minor have both been charged with three counts of robbery. The three others—Dean Zelaya, Kevin Faber and Mark August—were initially detained and have since been released. Duane Moody for News Five.