Prison employees charged with holdup

As bizarre as it seems, three prison officers have been charged with three counts of robbery and two counts of aggravated assault following a hold up early Friday morning. Germain Uttley and Carl Robinson told police they were walking on Waight Street around two a.m. when a Department of Corrections vehicle pulled up alongside them. Inside the pickup were Sebastian Weiwe, Nicholas Palomo and Fitz Harris Howard. It is alleged the officers jumped out of the vehicle and ordered Uttley and Robinson to stop. According to the men the officers then placed guns in their mouths and demanded money. Robinson claims three of his gold chains valued at five hundred and fifty dollars were stolen. Uttley says they stole seven hundred dollars and a red New York cap. Both men claim the officers ordered them to run and fired shots at them. It is not known if the officers were intoxicated, but Robinson and Uttley allege they saw rum bottles inside the prison pickup. During their court appearance Weiwe, Palomo and Howard were offered bail in the amount of five thousand dollars each plus a surety of the same amount. All three officers met bail and are scheduled to reappear in court on February twenty fifth.