Businessman Robbed at Gunpoint; Suspects Detained
A group of robbers did not get too far after executing a well-planned armed robbery. On Thursday night, the masked robbers accosted the owner of Cooking Master on Saint Thomas Street in Belize City and forced him into the restaurant. They fired shots and stole an undisclosed amount of cash from under the restaurant counter then fled in a getaway vehicle. But a police patrol was able to nab them on Wagner’s Lane after a high speed chase. Tonight, six men are in detention. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Six men have been detained following an armed robbery in Belize City on Thursday night. Around eleven o’clock, Belizean Chinese businessman and owner of Cooking Master, Hongbin He, was approached by two masked gunmen who forced him into his restaurant and robbed him of an undisclosed amount of money. Two shots were fired inside the restaurant before the armed robbers jumped into a getaway van, parked on Heusner Crescent, and fled the scene. Quick response from a police patrol led to a high speed chase through the streets of Belize City.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“From the information we obtained, the robbers escaped in a van and quickly police were able to identify the van and that led to a hot pursuit through the streets of Belize City. The van was caught on Antelope Street Extension in Belize City by officers from Precinct Two and members of the Gang Suppression Unit.”
The six men: two nineteen-year-old construction workers from Hope Creek Village, Stann Creek and Wagner’s Lane in Belize City; a twenty-three-year-old unemployed resident and a forty-three-year-old construction worker also from Wagner’s Lane as well as a thirty-year-old construction worker of Berkley Street and a forty-three-year-old of Regent Street were caught red-handed with the loot and two guns.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Inside the van were six individuals who are known robbers from the Wagner’s Lane area. Those individuals are currently in custody and are expected to be charged with robbery. A search of the van immediately upon interception led to the discovery of the money stolen from the restaurant as well as two firearms—one nine millimetre and one three-eighty pistol—and both firearms had ammunition in them. And so it goes to show again the good work of the police.”
ComPol Chester Williams says that the department has installed multiple patrols as part of its policing strategy for there to be quick response so that perpetrators can be apprehended shortly after a crime is committed.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“As police officers, we often times put the citizenry before ourselves. We have sworn to uphold the law to keep the citizenry safe. And so we do that wholeheartedly for the most part because there are some officers who you would not go that extra mile. Our officers are out on the streets, across the country, doing their best to see how they can minimise the occurrences of crime, particularly the murders and the robberies. And many times we have been really successful in apprehending the perpetrators of these crimes shortly after the crime is committed and last night was no different.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
