Violent robbers still at large

(CNS): The unknown number of perpetrators responsible for the recent violent robberies have not been apprehended and police are still seeking witnesses to the incident that occurred at Pet Pros in Crewe Road, where the robbers are said to have assisted some customers who came into the shop while the robbery was underway. “We continue to investigate the robberies but there are no obvious links between them,” said David George.

The Police Commissioner was speaking to the media at an informal briefing on Tuesday 19 August when he said that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) was analysing why these crimes had occurred. George said that while there were not any clear links the police were not ruling the possibility out. The Commissioner noted, however, that it would be unusual for a perpetrator to use a firearm in one incident and then in a short period of time commit another offence using a machete.

 “We are not closing our eyes to any possibilities but there doesn’t seem to be a thread with regards these crimes,” George added. “We are also still looking for witnesses and there are a couple of people who the perpetrators assisted in one of the crimes that haven’t come forward yet that could help the investigation.”

In the last three weeks there have been four violent robberies on Grand Cayman in the George Town area. The first was on Thursday, 31 July when a man was robbed at gun point while sitting in his car on School Road. Then on Friday 1 August two men entered Pet Pro’s on Crewe Road, armed with handguns and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. During that incident customers came into the store to purchase goods and the robbers pretended to be staff and assisted the shoppers.

 A week later on 8 August, McRuss Grocery Store on Party Lane was robbed by a man armed with a machete, and then on Sunday 11 August a lone security guard was robbed by two men outside of the Hard Rock Café in down town George Town, one of which was armed with a handgun. While police note that the MO has been slightly different in each of these incidents, a weapon was used to threaten the victims.

Speaking after the last robbery, Chief Inspector Peter Kennett of the Criminal Investigation Department said that, while it was too early to say for sure if police were looking for the same men or different men in each case, he was concerned that the robbers were apprehended before anyone was hurt and he advised people and businesses to take extra precautions to protect themselves against becoming victims.

Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000 should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.