Six arrested for Mile Eight home invasion
Crimes against society is not confined to gunplay…on average police report that everyday approximately two homes in the city are burglarised, sometimes while the owner is at home. That’s just what happened to an unfortunate resident of the mile eight community, who was tortured by a gang of men bent on thievery. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods has more.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
This is the telephone cord that police say was used to tie up twenty-three year old Jose Rosado sometime around two-thirty on Monday afternoon. Rosado says he was home alone when he heard a loud noise coming from downstairs. He went to investigate and to his horror found six young men, all whom he said he recognized, trying to break into a room. The gang attacked Rosado and took him hostage.
Jose Rosado, Burglary Victim
“Well two have them approached me and hit me several times in the face, asking me where the money is and where is the gun that I’m hiding. And from there we went up here where we are now. From there they decided to tie me up on one of these chairs…tie me up with the telephone cord, tape my mouth with masking tape and put a shirt over my head.”
Rosado says he did his best to remain calm as the men pressured him for answers.
Jose Rosado
“Basically where was the money and where was the gun that I was hiding, that was the information they wanted from me. They said they heard from some source that I had money and firearms in there hiding, that’s why they decided to come here.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you know where they could have possibly gotten this information from?”
Jose Rosado
“I don’t know. I know they just pick the house and they came here.”
Although the burglars did not get what they went for, they stole several expensive items of electronic equipment. Rosado says he was then led out of the house to a spot along the Western highway where he was released.
Fortunately, the Hattieville police have since recovered the stolen goods and arrested the suspects. Officer in charge of Hattieville Police, Sgt. Chris Noble, says since he was posted at the station, they have become increasingly concerned about the number of burglaries in the area.
Chris Noble, O.I.C. Hattieville Police Station
“Of course the concern is rather a large one, because people tend to be doing these things and they tend to be repeating themselves in an area between Hattieville and mile eight on the Western Highway.”
Noble says those arrested for this latest crime are between the ages of fifteen and eighteen years old. The young men, who all reside at the newly formed community at mile eight, have been charged with aggravated burglary.
Chris Noble
“The area of mile eight has become somewhat a problem in that some persons started recently giving some problems in that area, petty thefts, burglaries, and so forth. Some of these persons have been dealt with by us, and rest assured that should this reoccur there’s a high chance that they will be dealt with again by us; if it means that we deal with them on a day to day basis.”
Noble says despite the lack of resources, they will do their best to fight crime and not let the situation get out of hand. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
According to the records office of the Criminal Investigation Branch in Belize City, monthly figures for reported burglaries are as follows: January fifty-two, February seventy-eight, March fifty-three, April fifty-nine, May sixty-three. Police believe many more incidents of burglary go unreported.
