Brazen gunmen abscond with $33,000 citrus payroll

High world prices may be creating prosperity in the citrus belt, but one orange grower has been made significantly poorer by a pair of brazen robbers. On Friday morning around eleven-thirty, the farm manager for William Bowman’s Emerald Groves near the village of Maya Centre, arrived on site with the payroll. As he walked from his truck toward the waiting workers, two men emerged from the crowd, each with a handgun. They demanded the money bag and after it was handed over they shot out one of the tires on the manager’s truck before running off through the orange groves. Their take? Over thirty-three thousand dollars–all cash in individual payroll envelopes. Witnesses said the two Spanish speaking robbers arrived at the farm pretending to be looking for jobs. Despite a heavy police response at the scene of the jacking, at news time no arrests have been made. It should be noted that news of the robbery has not at any time been included in any police press report.