Armed Thieves Fire at S.P.U. Police in Arenal

There was a dangerous exchange of gunfire in Arenal Village on Monday evening between members of the Special Patrol Unit and a gang of armed thieves believed to be Guatemalan nationals.  According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph Myvett, the S.P.U. team was conducting a patrol on the Belizean side of the border community when they happened upon four suspicious men riding on three separate motorcycles.  When they attempted to do a stop and search on the men, they came under fire.  It turns out that those four persons are believed to have been involved in a spate of break-ins and robberies across the village earlier that day, as an investigation would later reveal.

On the Phone: ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch

“Sometime around 6:20 p.m., members of the Special Patrol Unit attached to the Arenal Police Substation were on patrol within Arenal Village when they came across four Hispanic males dressed in dark clothing on three separate motorcycles.  As a result, officers attempted to stop those persons to conduct searches and as a result they fired upon the police and the police then returned fire.  Apparently no one was injured in the incident, no officer was injured from the Special Patrol Unit.  The area was thereafter canvassed where one of those motorcycles was recovered.  What we know so far is that during the course of the investigation, police learned that those same four male persons entered the home of one Heidi Romero where she was tied up and her home was ransacked and thereafter they stole her 200cc Meilun motorcycle, green in colour.  That was the cycle that was recovered by the police.”