European Couple Loses Vehicle to Home Invaders; Were They Threatened?
During a meeting with the press this morning in Ladyville, Belize District, reports started coming in to Police that a foreign-born couple living in Belize had been kidnapped. Police recovered a grey Patriot SUV, reported to have been stolen during the alleged attack, which was said to have been committed by several armed men who held them up at their home in the southern Belize District village of Gales Point sometime on Wednesday night. The Patriot was found this morning, abandoned, along the Burrell Boom-Hattieville Road. But as the day progressed, the alleged kidnapping report was downgraded to an aggravated burglary of a stolen vehicle, now recovered. As of news time, the couple had yet to make a formal report to Dangriga police, but Police in the Dangriga and Rural Eastern Divisions are to collaborate on the investigation. The commander of Rural Eastern Division, ACP Edward Broaster, and deputy ASP Juanito Cocom shared what was known as of this morning.
Edward Broaster
ACP Edward Broaster, Regional Commander, Eastern Division Rural
“Our Hattieville police discovered a vehicle in an abandoned feeder road, and a couple went to the Hattieville Police station thereafter reporting that they were kidnapped by four gunmen in the village of Gales Point. So we have notified Dangriga police and we are investigating that matter at this moment.”
Juanito Cocom
ASP Juanito Cocom, Officer in Charge, Ladyville Police
“The incident didn’t happen in the Eastern Division jurisdiction; it happened in the Dangriga jurisdiction. The actual incident, the actual crime. Only the vehicle was found in our jurisdiction.”
Hattieville officer in charge, Assistant Superintendent Rochelle Chan, told News Five via telephone this afternoon that the complainants, whose names were not disclosed, opted to make a full report to Dangriga police since that jurisdiction officially covers Gales Point. At this time, according to police, all they would say is that they had been tied up and robbed in their home. But last report from Dangriga police is that the complaint has not yet been formally made.
