Elderly Man Bound and Robbed at Home in Orange Walk
An elderly man was held up and robbed of valuables and cash totaling over twenty-five thousand dollars early Monday morning in Orange Walk Town. The man, Albert Burns, reported to police that he was asleep inside his house and was awakened sometime around two-thirty Monday morning by some noise. Burns said he saw three thieves at his bedside. They then proceeded to tie him up, before demanding money and valuables. When the assailants left, they also took Burns’ Toyota 4-Runner and other personal and household items. It was a pastor who lives nearby, who heard Burns screaming for help after the robbers left, that came to his aid. News Five’s Marion Ali has the details in the following report.
Pastor Joel Williams
Pastor Joel Williams, First Responder
“I hear when somebody like (scream), I need some, yes, help, then call my name Joel or Ismael. But him bawl “Ay! Ay! Ay! Please, please.”
Marion Ali, Reporting
The sounds that Pastor Joel Williams heard when he got up to use the bathroom around two-thirty Monday morning were screams from his neighbor, eighty-one-year-old Albert Burns. The elderly resident of B.E.L Street, behind the New Hope High School area in Orange Walk Town, had come under attack by three men dressed in dark clothing. They had broken into his home about an hour earlier, bounded his hands and feet, and began to demand money, guns and valuables, before ransacking the house. Williams didn’t hear any of this commotion. But when Burns screamed out, he went quickly went over to render assistance.
Pastor Joel Williams
“I gaan close to the man Albert. I ask him, Mr Albert, what happened? And he tell me, come, come loose my hand and my foot, please, because somebody just nearly killed me. Well, I opened the door, he gave me an opportunity – permission. I gone and loose it, and loose it.”
Burns, who is a real estate agent, owns and rents out many of the properties on the street. His next door neighbor, who requested anonymity, told us they regret that they didn’t hear his screams for help because he is a very courteous and considerate landlord.
Voice of: Neighbour
“He’s very attentive to the house needs and come see what we need and all of that.”
Marion Ali
“Okay. Very neighborly.”
Voice of: Neighbour
“He came to speak with my husband. He said he was shouting for help because they had him tied and they broke into the gate and into his room door to. Soh dehn tek ah outta the room and he seh he mi di shout fi help, but we never hear him for real, and fi we room close to fi he side to, but wi neva hear him.”
The neighbor said that Burns always took precaution and had a cut-off time for doing business. But his attackers must have known that he was alone.
Voice of: Neighbour
“All of this is for him, all of this area, way by the corner, and I think he has round by Savannas, too. As six o’clock hit, even if you want to go pay rent, he will tell you come tomorrow. As soon as the sun comes down, he will tell you come tomorrow.”
Marion Ali
“You think they targeted him because they know he’s a businessman?”
Voice of: Neighbour
“Mm hmm, most likely, yes, because they know that he has money and links and all that.”
Police are investigating. Marion Ali for News Five.
