Suspects charged in rape/robbery

A combination of luck and good police work has resulted in the arrest of two suspects who audaciously robbed a couple and also raped the woman. Nineteen year old Michael Trapp and twenty-two year old Derrick Sampson, both of Belize City, have been jointly charged with two counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery while Sampson has also been charged with rape. According to court reports, at around twelve thirty Saturday morning a student and his girlfriend were standing at the seawall off Craig Street when two young men approached on bicycles, rode past and then returned. One of the duo pulled out a chrome handgun and robbed the couple of jewellery and a cell phone. The man was then ordered to shed his clothes and get in the water, while one of the assailants proceeded to rape the woman. A police patrol approached and the criminals fled on their bikes, pausing to fire a shot at the pursuing officers. The cops fired back, hitting Trapp in the foot. He was soon apprehended. The second man escaped but was later captured at the Tourist Village, clad only in wet boxer shorts.