A Brazen Saturday Morning Robbery at A&R is Thwarted by Police
There was mayhem in Belize City on Saturday morning when shoppers in the vicinity of the Northern Shops, Courts and the nearby Uno Gas Station were startled by the sound of gunshots. A team of policemen was responding to a robbery in progress at A&R store when they were met with gunfire. Additional reinforcements were radioed in and the scene was crawling with officers. Inside the building were two teenagers armed with a handgun who had taken the security guard hostage before relieving an employee of cash and a cell phone. But the burglars would not make their escape as they were cornered by the officers who had taken up positions outside of the building. News Five’s Isani Cayetano has that story.
Haldwin Castillo
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Nineteen-year-old Haldwin Castillo was arraigned shortly before noon today on a slew of charges stemming from a foiled robbery attempt on Saturday morning in Belize City. Along with a teenage minor, Castillo, armed with a handgun, entered A&R Enterprises Ltd., a popular store near mile one and a half on the Phillip Goldson Highway. The young men reportedly took the security guard captive and made their way to the manager’s office where they demanded money. The manager, complying with the demands of the robbers, turned over a plastic bag containing an undisclosed sum of money. Before they were able to flee the premises with their plunder, the thieves were met by responding officers who received a call of a robbery in progress moments earlier. An exchange of gunfire ensued between the police and the duo of thieves. Assistant Superintendent Alejandro Cowo provided additional details.
Alejandro Cowo
ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., CIB, Belize City
“Just after 9:30 police were called to shots being fired within that vicinity. Prompt police response who were in the immediate area, they responded and upon entering the A&R entrance they were greeted by male persons firing shots at them. As a result, police who were in the area asked for assistance and other police mobile arrived in that area and they were able to manage the situation. Thereafter, the two male persons handed over themselves to police.”
Fortunately, no one was injured during the shootout and the suspects were both detained without further incident.
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“What police gathered so far is that two male persons entered the shop, they held the cashier at gunpoint and demanded the cashier to hand over money. About a thousand, five hundred dollars was handed over to the male person and upon exiting the entrance of the shopping center that is when they met the police who were almost about to enter the establishment and where the exchange of gunfire began. Police, inside of the building, found a nine millimeter pistol loaded with one live round of ammunition. We understand that the security guard who was in front of the main entrance, he was held up as a cover-up, covering for the two suspects that were behind him, used as a shield.”
This morning before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford, Castillo, a resident of Pelican Street Extension, appeared unrepresented and was read a total of seven charges. The minor, a seventeen-year-old student of Gateway Youth Center, was arraigned in the presence of his mother on four counts.
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“Based on the investigation, police arrested and charged two persons, one is Haldwin Joseph Castillo, a nineteen-year-old Belizean, and a minor. Both were charged jointly for the crime of robbery, both of them were charged for two counts of aggravated assault and for possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition.”
Reporter
“Were they in fact workers or they were just dressed like workers?”
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“They were just dressed like workers.”
The pair was charged with one count of robbery for taking by use of force a cell phone, a wooden plate and one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three dollars in cash. They were additionally charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm against officers Jerome Romero and Sheldon Hernandez, as well as one count of damage to property for allegedly shattering a glass door.
Castillo, on the other hand, was also charged for possession of a firearm with a serial number removed, one count of possession of a firearm without a gun license and one count of possession of ammunition. The both pleaded not guilty and were denied bail due to the nature of the offense committed. They have been remanded into custody until July. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
