3 gas stations robbed in 36 hours

It has not been a good week for gas stations as in a thirty-six hour period, three have been knocked off by criminals. According to police reports, the first attack took place at B and C Industries on mile sixteen and a half on the Northern Highway. Owner She Hong Yuan told police that while his store was closed between 3:00 and 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, a thief or thieves broke in and stole his passport, gun license, forty rounds of nine millimetre ammunition and an undisclosed amount of cash.

Four hours later, thirty-two year old Pablo Coc, a security guard at the Shell Gas Station in Belmopan reported to police that two men approached him and put a gun to his head. Four other men arrived on the scene and they tied him up before breaking into the gas station. The bandits broke the safe, but it turned out to be empty. They did manage to take some cash from the register and a number of phone cards before disappearing into the night.

Around that same hour a day later, another security guard at a gas station, this time in Benque Viejo, was also being attacked. According to police the night watchman, forty-one year old Jose Azueta, was at his post when two men approached and demanded he open the building. Azueta told them he didn’t have a key and the men proceeded to beat him until he lost consciousness. The men broke into the building and stole several items and an undetermined amount of cash. So far, only one suspect has been detained for questioning in connection with the robbery in the capital but, police say they have launched an intensive investigation into all three incidents.