Robbers strike at West Bay mini-mart

| 18/12/2010

(CNS): Updated Police have now confirmed that a mini-mart/laundry in the Birch Tree Hill area of West Bay was robbed last night, Friday 17 December. In the latest incident in Cayman’s continuing surge of robberies, two masked men, armed with what appeared to be handguns, approached Malcolm’s Mini Mart in Birch Tree Hill Road, West Bay, at around 8pm. The men threatened a man standing outside the store before they entered the premises. They then threatened a female customer and the female cashier, demanding cash. The suspects fled the scene with a sum of money and were last seen heading towards Anderson Drive. No shots were fired and no-one was injured in the incident. (Photo by Dennie WarrenJr)

A search of the area was conducted by uniform staff, armed officers and the Air Operations Unit for the suspects, who are both described as being between 5’9” and 6’ in height. Both men were wearing black or very dark coloured clothing and masks.

Anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and has any information which could assist the police is asked to contact West Bay CID on 949-3999 or the confidential Crime Stoppers tip-line 800 8477 (TIPS).

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Category: Local News

About the Author ()

Comments (45)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Rafaelle says:

    If Cayman only new the amount moles and saboteurs that our government and others have allowed to be put in place. They wouldn’t worry about the trivial things that are going onaround us. The subterfuge that is now taking place has factored in our actions and responses, which by the way are very predictable. A by product of this situation is unfortunately a serious rise in crime which we are all witnessing now. As the moles continue their activities the economic and social structure becomes weaker and the weigh and ignorance of our political infrastructure will eventual cause our collapse. Unity is strength Cayman stop fighting against one another and put the Cayman Islands first.

  2. Michel lemay says:

    Thank you CNS for allowing me to share this little story I heard today.I am compelled to share this as we went from a roberry to some interesting comments to say the least.I believe that it’s appropriate for this time of year. "Some years ago a father and son whom were both believers decided to go fishing. His son brought a friend along. During the course of the day a bad storm brewed up and the boat capsized. In very rough weather the father had little time to make a decision as he could only save one of the boys. He knew that is son being a believer like himself( Christian to some of you) had a much better chance to go to a better place(Heaven) but was unsure of the son’s friend. He decided to save the son’s friend.It turned out the friend did not know Jesus; but years later he is the same one who told the story from the pulpit as the father was in attendance.The young man was now the pastor".What would we do ? I raised a pile of children( a pile is at least 5 in Cayman) and cannot get that story out of my head. As we approach Christmas we must remember that it’s not all about Santa Claus and gifts but also about Someone Son’s birth whom later he would Sacrifice for all of us.Thank you Sister Yolanda.I am not certain what I would have done but I will never forget it. Merry Christmas to you all from different countries living in Cayman and may your Higher Power ( Your God as you know Him) Bless You.

  3. whodatis says:

    Ok, this quickly disintegrated into immature and pointless mayhem didn’t it? (I am hereby owning my part thereof.)

    Look – I simply cannot stomach when people make these outrageous claims about the state of Cayman’s economy, current standing and overall attractiveness.

    When one backtracks it is clear to see that was the motivation behind my initial post.

    Apologies to whomever was offended – but I stand by my words.

    All I want is a fair and balanced approach to our current situation – ESPECIALLY in light of all that is taking place in the world today.

    Anyway – it is Sunday evening, enough of the bad blood. After all, in the morning is another Monday and most of all … its CHRISTMAS!!

    🙂

  4. whodatis says:

    Hate or love it – I speak only truth.

    Sad to see so many strawman arguments popping up in the process  – I guess it is all in the spirit of deflection.

    Well, to those of you who are leaving because "Cayman has gotten so bad" (yawn) – I do wish you a pleasant life.

     

    • au revoir says:

      lol, actually the problem is that you speak crap.  at one point i thought that you had some mediocre arguments, but your deeply ingrained bias against the US, the UK, and most of western Europe is so deep that it clouds your judgement.  that’s part of the problem – the other part of the problem is that, like one of cayman’s former politicians who still likes to shoot off his mouth on occasion, you like to pass yourself off as an expert on all and everything – which clearly you’re not.  in the end, no amount of fancy words will disguise a weak argument.  your "hate or love it" is a prime example of your arrogance – you must suffer from the "small" man syndrome…and yeah, thanks, there are far better places than cayman (ie. the US, the UK, Canada, all of western Europe, Australia, etc.)  cayman is nothing but a little dot on a map – which may not be there for much longer if the sea levels start rising….

      • Anonymous says:

        It must hurt to have to leave somewhere that’s better than home. So much hate.

        Bias is contagious – we caught it — ouch! too bad you’re not that educated.  Arrogance – we caught that too.  Upturned noses – we caught that too – we are the best.  Crime – we are good ‘learners’. 

        Now you can leave happy — you left a legacy that will soon be covered by salt water. Why waste time posting and we know it’s ‘sour grapes’

         

        • Anonymous says:

           I like the ‘covered in salt water part’.  Sounds biblical.

  5. au revoir says:

    in response to WHODATIS’s nonsensical comments on this message board:

    ummh, no, canada is not actually exposed to the same fate as other western nations in a in reverse manner – in a reverse manner?  ha ha ha ha you have the ego of an overinflated jackass – your mommy ought to take a belt out and strap your a$$ for talking sh1t.  you have no clue as to what you’re talking about.  canada’s banking industry is far sounder than most, its real estate market is not overpriced, at least not unreasonably so, its unemployment rate is slightly elevated but quite reasonable, etc.  as to canada’s immigration policy, canada takes in over 250,000+ immigrants per year, 5x cayman’s population – per year.

  6. Anonymous says:

    How can you expect the leaders to spear head a war against crime? They are two busy buying each other bloated vehicles at the country’s expense. 

  7. whodatis says:

    * All expatriate Germans are exempted from my previous post.

    Your country is currently the strongest in the "West" and you WILL soon emerge as the region’s true and actual (economic) superpower. Whether or not this will actually be acknowledged by the pompous yet actually deflated Yanks and Brits is another matter.

    No doubt they will be happy to ride your coattail though – they’re not good for much more these days.

    • Anonymous says:

      Do you mean to suggest Germany above all? I bet you are practicing your goosestep already. Don’t forget the salute.

      • whodatis says:

        Should I add "HH 88" as well?

        Nonetheless, having spent some time there and getting to know its people, I am now of the opinion that Germany could be a great society – if only they coulddo away with those pesky "auslanders" (foreigners).

        Meaning, theirs is an extremely pragmatic and practical society that strives its hardest to optimize every possible facet of their lives.

        Granted they are about as warm as a penguins’ balls in a snowstorm – but at least you know what is what.

        Left to their own devices they would make a perfect little society … for themselves.

        • Anonymous says:

          "Left to their own devices they would make a perfect little society"

          Um, I think the Germans already tried that…….

          • whodatis says:

            Lol!

            Very true – and it did not turn out very well at all.

            Nonetheless, ignoring its horrid and mind-boggling past for a minute and focusing on the present – there are certain elements of German culture that are to be admired.

            (And trust me, as a ‘Black’ Caribbean man and understanding what all of that means to the country in a historical sense (you know – the Aryan stuff), I will flatly declare that it takes a lot out of me and much separation to arrive at this personal opinion.)

            Germany’s main problem is that in their quest for practicality, efficiency and durability – they have sacrificed the celebration of the spiritual human existence – and I am not speaking in religious terms.

            In my opinion, this sacrifice / suppression helped to enable the robotic and mechanical crazed forward march that was required to make happen the horrible things that they did in the time / era that it occurred.

            Regardless, today they boast one of, if not, the strongest economies of the western world.

            What can we do – it is a crazy odd little world in which we live.

            (Apologies to the guaranteed offended Germans in the room. Hopefully you will find the actual compliments included above.)

  8. Anonymous says:

    England pulls the strings,the governor and commissioner dances,our elected politicians know their place.They keep their mouths out of the policing if the island and they in turn are allowed to keep up their act. Sometimes make me wonder if this island went to the dogs who would stand to profit? We are teetering on the precipice of it. 100 armed and trained professional police officers could bring this to a halt. Yet the people in the position to do anything, fail to do anything that could actually bring this crime wave to a halt. Is it that they are that incompetent or that they have other motives? Air support and armed officers will not make a bit of difference if they arrive too late at the vicinity of the crime, only the paper work will get done.They have to scramble the helicopter and the officers have to get to the scene.  Nice show. All this takes time and the upper echelon of the police know this so they are only playing dangerous games with the people of this islands lives. An armed police force that want’s to engage the criminals or an armed public the time is past due.

  9. Anonymouse says:

    Is that why the Helicopter was hovering over the Northward area last night keeping everyone awake with the awful noise emanating from it. If the robbery took place in West Bay why was the Helicopter keeping everyone in Northward awake. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

    Seems every time a robbery takes place in the Premiers backyard they have to come and wake up everyone in the Opposition Leaders backyard.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Armed robberies and other violent crime will continue until our politicians are willing to go after criminals with the same vigour that they use in attacking freedom of the press and freedom of information.

  11. whodatis says:

    Oh hush!

    Not a single expat is any rush to leave Cayman as a result of the rise in crime.

    Pray tell – where exactly are you running to?!

    If you are a European (including Brits) – "Ha"!!

    Every single European nation is struggling with issues far greater than we are experiencing in Cayman.

    Do we not see the riots, fires, protests, nation-wide strikes, student / young people outrage, political uprising, government bail-outs, Far-Right reemergence, austerity measures, racial tensions, religious tensions, increase in taxes, increase in VAT (UK – 20%!), proposals to tax high earners an income tariff of 50% (UK), etc.?! (Oh, I almost forgot – the ever present, ongoing CRIME of each and every American / European / British city and town.)

    If you are an American – an even bigger "Ha" I bestow onto you. We all see what is happening over there in regards to the economy, unemployment, bail-outs … you get the picture.

    So, can we kindly halt with the tired rhetoric of "We expats are voluntarily packing our bags and leaving Cayman."?

    No. In actuality – your time is up. Your contract has not been renewed. The "rollover" hascome for you. You have been made redundant via the current global economic recession. You have certain obligations in your home country. Or any one of the host of other reasons behind your "decision" to leave this island.

    Honestly, some of the comments on this website these days are beyond ridiculous.

    • anon says:

      Funny how you decide to pick all the countries that are doing badly right now, then leave out all the other countries that are doing well.

      I do see you came back and retorted on Gernany, but how about Canada?  Its so far away you forgot about it?  Canadas economy is growing like crazy, so much so we actually beg for immigrants to move there.  And welcome them with open arms, unlike Cayman.  

      You are quick to judge others comments, you may want to think about what you are writing first… 

      • whodatis says:

        Lol!!

        My friend – that is because practically all of the western countries are suffering right now!

        By the way – be careful of how you are singing Canada’s praises. Granted, things may appear to be doing relatively good over there however, when one digs a bit deeper one realizes that they too are exposed to the same fate that has befell many of its western counterparts – albeit in a reverse manner due to the country’s economical structure.

        Perhaps you wouldn’t mind outlining the actual (Doing well: Doing badly) ratio of western nations according to your interpretation?

        Good luck with that – I would advise you to keep a bottle of brandy handy.

        Re: "Canadas economy is growing like crazy, so much so we actually beg for immigrants to move there.  And welcome them with open arms, unlike Cayman."

        Wow! That is one mightily ambitious claim there.I know of a few natural born Canadians that have a much different perspective on your "open arms" theory.

        However, I am sure you are better informed on such matters.

        • Unnatural Born says:

          Would you care to define a "natural born Canadian" and their immigration perspective? 

          • whodatis says:

            That is exactly my point.

            There are many Canadians that were born and raised in Canada that do not necessarily experience an "open arms" type of reception as promoted by the previous poster.

            If some actual Canadians experience a less than welcoming attitude in their native country, how are we to be convinced of Canada’s overall friendliness onto immigrants?

            • anonymous says:

              Now I really don’t understand what point you are trying to make. Someone born and raised in Canada, or "actual Canadians" as you put it…. do not experience an "open arms" reception? By whom? Immigration? Since First Nations Peoples are the only "actual" Canadians, and they do not recognize the same geographical boundaries, why would a Canadian experience anything but "open arms" by their own immigration? If you mean graduates of "Whodatis"  college of Xenophobia, Canada has something called the "Hate  Crimes Act" and  a "Human Rights Commission". We also, generally try to marry immigrant xenophobes off to 8th generation white trash families who do welcome them with open arms, open gene pools, open beers, and open hunting licences. It all sorts itself out in the end …

              • Anonymous says:

                I don’t  think Whodatis knows the difference between "real" Canadians and "paper" Canadians.

              • Anonymous says:

                17.51, I’m not a Canadian, but I love your style! You’re a natural! But please, not too often, the laughing’s exhausting!

        • Anonymous says:

          You might be better informed yourself if you read the local press:

          http://www.compasscayman.com/observer/2010/11/28/Canada-woos-immigrants/

           

        • Judean People's Front says:

          Ooooh, he’s having a go at the Canadians now!

          This is what happens when you complain about the glass ceiling and subsequently supplied a hammer and given training in it’s use.

          Who, what and where will be the next target in the blame game?

           

          • Anonymous says:

            Whoever heblames next, it will be someone other than himself. It is so much easier to blame someone else!

    • Anonymous says:

      Whodatis, you are right about one thing – some of the comments these days are beyond ridiculous, yours for example!

    • Anonymous says:

       Actually, we see racial tensions, religious tensions, increases in taxes and fees, proposals to tax high earners (and low earners, come to that), government bail-outs (granted it is our government BEING bailed out), fires (arson attack on SMB just last week), protests, student outrage (just read CNS) and austerity measures every day in Cayman.  Wherehave you been living?

       

  12. expat weirdo says:

    Add me you are doing the right thing. Unfortunately for me I was an idiot and bought a condo here that no one in their right mind would rent which makes me partially stuck. It’s still tempting to leave even if it stays vacant.

  13. Lachlan MacTavish says:

     I know a lot of people are tired of listening to my rants. But I am going to continue to rant until some elected member, I’m giving up on Mr. Bush and JuJu, stands up represents the people of the country and spear heads a war against the horrible rising crime in our country. I would urge anyone who cares about Cayman and the people to write letters to CNS and The Compass and to call any talk show and protest. Forget about writing the elected members. Forget about all the other issues we have to address. Without a safe environment the rest doesn’t matter. Write until the foreign press makes it front page news. Then maybe someone will stand up because they will loose their fat salary and benefits next election. Cayman is turning into the worst areas of The Bahamas and JA and all the 2 leaders of the country are doing is playing at being a politician. Lets fly around first class, hide behind tinted glass, sit at a bigggg desk with a fountain pen in my hand. I am disgusted at what we have allowed to happen in our country. What a farse. 

    • pmilburn says:

      I agree wholeheartedly and will also continue to say what I have to say to our politicians especially our Premier who has not said one word about crime as far back as I can remember.Do you all not get it?If this continues you think you have problems now?Get up off your butts(all of you)and do what we are PAYING you to do.Take this country back to where it was.Stimulus’s wont help until we rid ourselves of this plague that we now find ourselves embroiled in.When you all finally clean up the crime problem then we might see a change in our future.and more so that of our childrens future for that is what this is all about.

            I dont want to hear about any more prayer meetings to try to help this problem.We have to take care of it ourselves.No one else can do it.So Mr.Premier lets get started on this situation for it is YOUR situation as well.This does not just hurt the "little"people of these islands but it will affect the "big boys"at some point in time.I dont see how any of you can sleep at nite.Start earning your fat paychecks!!!!!

    • Michel Lemay says:

      Lachlan my friend you have no idea how bad it is. We along many Caymanians and expats worked so hard in the 80’s and 90’s to make Cayman #1 so that our children  and our friends children would inherit a role model of a Paradise Island and the envy of every other Islands pn the Caribean. Newer people to the island have NO idea what it was like then. Yes work hard we did but had fun doing it. We were not only servers, salespersons, ladies in the kitchens,at the hotels behind the scenes. We were ENTERTAINERS ,friends of many first time tourist. then they would purchase Condos. have kids, bring their friends to a home away from home. Any of us would do anything for our new found friends. I could go go on Lach but the reality many will respond hey! get use to it. We went from #1 to now #10 and proud of it.We went from caring quality labour to imported cheap labour so there we are. By the responses to this blog I need say no more except that it really breaks my heart and like you said so well our powers to be are acting the way they are it’s just heartbreaking to say the least. At least they can’t take the good memories that we share. I ofyen wonder how many in the service industry know the thrue meaning of the simple word TIPS. And the solution is not that complicated: It’s back to the Basics. 

      So long my friend, Michel

    • Anonymous says:

      Keep up the rants, they need to hear it!

  14. Add me to the List says:

    That does it. I am sure many will say "good riddance", but…. I am definitely leaving Cayman in the coming year. Another educated foreigner taking their profit-generating skills elsewhere, from a position not easily filled. Pity. Doesn’t it make you wonder how many others like me feel the same but just haven’t written in? 2011 won’t be any better than 2010- I believe it will be worse in spite of the few "clean up" jobs, and the restarting of a few construction projects. Good luck, everyone.

    • can't sign my name th wife don't know says:

      Can’t sign my name the wife don’t know yet but after 35 years I also must say that I also have enough, Enough at the ignorance of our RULER, enough of the crime situation NOT addressed by our Premier and Governor and really enough of the stupid answers by some who think this is a BIG game ha ha ha !! Too cold were I was born and being gone so long I feel like a foreigner there but I Hear the Bahamas are doing quite well. Oh yea, plenty crime there too as long as you stay out of certain areas but the police pay a little more attention. To rob Connie’s old gas station where he once got shot, for what? $50.00 YOU know who the crack dealers are and hint don’t live far from there common man get rid of them or would you like some persons do iy for you as discussed recently. FIGURE IT OUT. And to you who did not know Connie please don’t respond you don’t qualify on this one

    • Anonymous says:

      I know many people that have left and miss the Cayman lifestye but I also know many, like me, who left in the not so distant past and have not for one moment regretted it.  I miss and worry for my friends left behind but I am happy again now like I never was in Cayman.  Okay so I’m earning less and I’m having to make friends all over againbut I now have a job I love and one where I’m respected by the people I work for.  And even though I’m on a work permit in this country too, they allow me to apply residency straight away so the feeling that it will never be my home is not there. Good luck to you (and everyone else considering the move) and I hope that you too pick the right place to move on to next.

      • Anonymous says:

        Hey, where did u go?  Rollover in a few years but not planning to stay that long for similar reasons.  I too, seek a ‘home from home’.  Would love some pointers if you’re willing to share.

        • Anonymous says:

          Without wanting to give too much away, I went to the other side of the world!  And to whodatis, for info, my time was not ‘up’.  I still had a few years left before rollover and still had a job.  I just became bored and disillusioned with Cayman and wanted to leave while I still had more good memories than bad. 

      • Anonymous says:

        Hi there distant past, in the not too distant future, I’ll be joining you — singing this same song …. and we’ll be moving on up to the east side

    • Anonymous says:

      You go Mr Almost Unique and take the bitterness also.  It must have been sooo good to be here.  As they say, ‘when the going gets tough/rough, the tough get going’.

  15. Anonymous says:

    i heard the laundry got cleaned out!

  16. Anonymous says:

     I think it’s only fair that if the police close down for the weekend, the criminals should stop for the weekend also.