Hitchhiker escapes gun ordeal
(CNS): Police have confirmed that a woman was threatened with a gun after she accepted a ride from a driver this morning on her way to work. The George Town woman is now recovering after she jumped from a moving vehicle when the driver pulled what was believed to be a gun. No shots were fired but the woman was injured when she leapt from the car. The female hitchhiker described her assailant as short and stocky with a light brown complexion, short hair and a Caymanian accent, driving a small red car.
The RCIPS said the woman accepted the ride on Monday, 8 March, at about 6.15 am when she was waiting for a bus close to Reflections in Eastern Avenue. The small red car stopped and the driver offered her a ride. At first the woman thought the driver was a friend, which is why she got into the front passenger seat. However, as soon as she got into the car she realised that she didn’t know the driver but decided to continue with the ride.
As the car turned into Marina Drive, the woman realised that the driver was taking her off the agreed route and she cried for him to stop the car. At this point the driver threatened her with what appeared to be a firearm. Despite the fact that the car was travelling at speed the woman opened the door and jumped from the vehicle. The car sped off down Marina Drive.
No shots were fired but the woman sustained lacerations to her knees and elbows. The car is described as a small red vehicle. The driver is between 5’2” and 5’5” in height, stocky build, light brown complexion, short black cut hair, and clean shaven, with a Caymanian accent.
Detective Constable Colin Pryce of George Town CID is appealing for anyone who may have any information about this crime to come forward and warned the public to be careful when hitching rides.
“This lady was very lucky to escape with such minor injuries; the consequences of this could have been so much worse. I would urge people not to accept rides from strangers. Don’t get into cars with people you don’t know, particularly if you’re a lone female. I would also be keen to speak to anyone else who may have accepted a ride from this individual. If you have, please contact me at George Town CID,” added DC Pryce.
Anyone with information should call George Town police station on 949-4222 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS).
Category: Headline News
"If you love Cayman you are Caymanian". So do your part by being vigilent and don’t have fear to report any injustices you may witness. Do whatever it takes to peacefully protect the place we love!
Breaking News…….Hitchhiking NOT SAFE…… JFK Assassinated ……. Man Lands on the Moon……Etc…..
Here we go with more violent crime being reported. Everyday we read more of the same and we are offered more of the same solutions…….road blocks, British Soldiers, heavily armed policeman checking cars as they drive from district to district, CCTV, helicopters, the Lord and bible etc.
Face reality, most of these ideas are so far fetched they will never come to pass. Face it, we need Braggs back ASAP. He can get the job done, and do it with flying colours. This is the way to bring this island back to peace
It’s heart wrenching to hear that our beloved isles have come to this. These guys on the road seem to have nothing to do and a lot of time on their hands. And further more driving around with a firearm. The devil sure does find work for idle minds and hands.
Getting to our intended destinations on time is extremely important, and am sure this lady was probably running a little late for her job/appointment. My word of CAUTION to any persons out there, requiring a ride; even though the public transport may not always be reliable, save yourselves by WAITING. That way you can be sure you will reach on time and yes possibly a lot safer.
What’s the cost of a life? One Bus Fare!!
The table is turning and a man back is against the wall, racism is backfiring island wide sounds like guns & roses
maze, pepper spray, acid in a spray bottle, ladies walk with this stuff in ur purse defend your self. try sit in the back of the car not in the front. once in the vechile hold your weapon in your hand self-defence. on the other hand do not except ride with someone you don’t know.
Oh yea like anybody would pick up some woman carrying a can of mace in her hand. get real idiot.
Hitch-hiking is never a safe option, but unfortunatly the cost of taxis forces people into it. The poorest are also the most desperate so they will continue hitching. But obviously genuine people would never give them a life if they were carrying a weapon!
Stop with the sketch artist suggestions. Don’t you remember the last sketch released a couple of years ago? It looked like Charlie Brown from the Peanuts comic strip.
I thought it was so funny that I still have it posted on my refrigerator.
All citizens and residents of the Cayman Islands please unite against these criminals that are terrorizing our beloved islands, each of us must do our part by assisting the country and each other in what ever way we can. This crime wave must stop. Please let us stop the division amongst us and work together to tackle this problem, PPM, UDP, Caymanians, Residents, let us stand together as ONE an impregnable force against crime let us show these criminals that we will not allow them to destroy this country and our way of life. Let us send a message we’ve had "Enough" of crime and criminals, Law and Order will prevail. Good people of this country we know what will happen when we sit back and do nothing.. let us put and keep these criminals on the run. Lets say "NO" to guns and crime. Let us not allow these thugs to run us from our home and homeland let us assist the police in sending them where they belong.
We need more people like you on the Status and Permanent Residency Board. It doesn’t sound like you would kick out people who have been here 8 to 20 years.
Although Iagree with everything you have said, I don’t understand why any expat would give a dam. We have made it very clear to them, they are not wanted here. Hell, we don’t even want the papers. Why should they now help us? Their focus is probably on their exit plans.
How I wish you had spoken up before.
I gave a lady a lift yesterday and I am glad I did. I won’t pick up men any more but I would rather go a little out of my way to take someone safely to their destination then hear on the news that someone that I drove past was attacked.
I know I could be putting myself at some risk but hearing this makes me even more certain that I am doing the right thing by helping out those who need a lift rather than leaving them for some depraved animal to pick up (I also give them a lecture about being careful – that is the price of my lift).
Please hitch hikers – be very very very careful – listen to your instincts and don’t be afraid to say no if you don’t like the look of the person offering you a lift.
I say go after these types of crimes fast and hard. Don’t let up until this individual AND the gund is found. One less gun (and apparently a perv/rapist/murderer??) for our society to worry about.
RCIPS please, please, please stop relying on individuals to ‘come forward’ in order to solve crimes. How about actually getting out in the area(s) and returning to these areas afterwards perhaps at the same time the crime was committed and asking questions.
Now let’s be clear; I’m not saying that if someone has information they should sit on it. The responsible and right thing to do is to come forward if you have any information regarding ANY crime regardless of who it is (including family members). I just think it would be best if the police were to take a bit more initiative and stop waiting for the answers to come to them.
Come on RCIP, I dont think that it should be that hard to get an ID on the car!! If the car was going towards Marina Drive, I am just assuming it would have to pass the On the Run Gas Station. The last time I checked they have cameras that point towards the road. If anyone can recall the accident that happened a few years back where a young lady lost her life right before the SeaFarers, the RCIP used these same cameras to spot the car as it passed before it crashed. So I am just throwing it out there, USE THE CAMERAS again!! Wake up po po’s do some actual investigating, this is something serious!
It is one of the symptoms of the malady called "progress, over development and unemployed persons". Problem is the government of the day wants more of it and so there is no treatment.
How was the lady found? Was it by a a neighbour, by-passer or a call from her cell phone? Thank God, she is alive to assist the Police in their investigations. This was really a scarey ride – maybe all women will have to prepare themselves with Karate Lessons on ‘SELF DEFENCE".
If the RCIPS does not have a sketch artist how hard is it to get someone external to do the job? We have so many artists here in Cayman that someone would probably do the job pro bono.
This guy’s picture should have been on the news and in papers as soon as she was able to sit with an artist and give a detail description. Please RCIPS do this before he strikes again and maybe the next sister, daughter, mother or brother is not so fortunate. This is a PREDATOR and must be taken off our streets as soon as possible!
The car is described as a small red vehicle. The driver is between 5’2” and 5’5” in height, stocky build, light brown complexion, short black cut hair, and clean shaven, with a Caymanian accent.
This looks like a piece of cake.
Come on RCIPS what more do you need than you have already been given.
Oh I remember. You need the public to deliver on this one. It is so difficult.
What a moronic statement. How does having a vague description of a suspect and knowing the colour of their car make identifying the suspect a ‘piece of cake.’ How many people do you think there are on the island fitting that description, and how many red cars?
If its so easy perhaps you could tell the RCIP who is responsible?
You are so ridiculous with your comment!! How many person match that description????? TONSSSS!!! Should they go now and pull every singly person with that description? Ah only hope dah decsription match ya !!
Sit still and think before you post really…
Trying to find a needle amongst 56,000 pieces of straw should not be that difficult.
Use a magnet idiot.
Interesting that this has been posted for sometime now and NO ONE has commented. I wonder why? I wonder if it’s a domestic helper so who cares?
CNS: Sorry, blame it on me not havng time to keep up with the comments.
Having to jump from a speeding car whilst at gun point. How terrifying for that poor woman. Gets more shocking every day. Sad days…
There is not alot of Caymanians who likes red cars. Also we have alot of people who has been here a long time and their accent has changed you would swear that they were Caymanians.Sounds like something easy to solve. Just get someone on the computer from licensing and check all the small red car owners. Police are very busy now but some other civil servant who are not busy can do this.
Unfortunately many red cars are listed as Burgundy, Wine red and many other names so it may not be so easy to narrow the list down. In any event the car in question may now be at the bottom of a lake somewhere since the culprit knows that the Police is looking for a small red car.
The Licence plate number would probably be the easiet means of identification, unfortunately the last thing someone in that ladies predicament would be thinking about when trying to escape a criminal is the number on the plates.
Way to go Mon 23:25! It could never be a Caymanian could it?
Yes, it could be. But in the same way that it was argued that the armed robbers with Jamaicans accents may not have been Jamaicans surely the same must apply here. Or does it work only one way – to exonerate expats and implicate Caymanians?
What a beast!!! Take him off the roads before he preys on another victim.
Nicki, you should find out who is putting all these "thumbs down" .. Why would someone put a "thumbs down" to the previous comment?!?!
CNS: Sorry, there is no way to find that out.
"when the driver pulled what was believed to be a gun"
This line is insane, is the writer suggesting that perhaps the perpetrator pulled a candy cane? Maybe a twinky?
Let’s just take her word for it and call it a gun…. She was there and dove out of the car at speed.
The statement means it appeared to be a gun. But as it was not fired and I don’t believe the woman was a trained firearms identification expert, then nobody can confirm it was in fact a gun.
If the police said that it definately was a gun, but it turned out to be a replica, or a starting pistol or toy of some sort, then technically they would be proved to have been lying. The last thing we need is the some culprit getting away on a minor technicality because it was a toy gun or a starting pistol or replica, and the lawyers saying "if the poilce lied about the gun, then they lied about the rest…etc etc"
Yes it’s pedantic but lawyers and their sleazebag clients will go to great lengths to twist what the police say or don’t say to suit their causes.
Do we not have a sketch artist to be able to draw a picture of the indiviudal for the victims description. Imagine his picture plastered all over the news!!!
Come on Mr. Police Officers, this one should be easy to solve. Get on top of this before someone is seriously hurt. Track back from where she was pick-up and ask her if the car was a two door and search and bring everyone man who drives a red car in for a line up. One less criminal and gun off the road
‘and bring everyone man who drives a red car in for a line up’
Yet another mornoic ill informed statement, do you really think you can just round up everyone who owns a small red car (which may amount to over a thousand people), and just bring them all into GTPS for a line up? Do you know what is involved in a line up? Do you know you have to have a number of other people who look like the suspect in the line up? This means if you have one thousand small red car owners as suspects, you would need about ten thousand other members of the public to act as stand ins. Has it occured to you that perhaps it was not the registered keeper of the car driving the car? What about if the registered keeper sold the car some time ago, and never updated the details of the sale with licensing?
Oh sorry, i forgot, its all so easy, you should become a detective. What the RCIP needs is peoples support, not every idiot who has been watching ‘Cops’ and ‘CSI Miami’ who now think they are qualified detectives sticking the boot in.
Umm..but if you did know your backsides from your elbows you could start by bringing up on a computer screen drivers license photos of every male between 20 and 35 who shares an address with that to which a two door red(ish) car is registered.
300 photographs could be reviewed in an hour without troubling anyone and the likelihood of a match must be pretty high.
Alternatively, drivers license photos of every male driver between 20 and 35, excluding those with darkest skin, will probably give you 1000 hits. How about asking the poor lady to review those before the passage of time lessens her recollections?
Sorry, despite being in the 21st century, we do not have that capability…..
We do have a very nice helicopter though. Cannot fly it, but it looks perty.
Are you saying that its too hard and we shouldnt even try to catch him?? Dont understand your comment. Seems lazy. Once the 1,000 people with red cars are found, the elimanation based on approximate age, gender, color, height and weight could begin. If this gets the list down to 50 – 100 then why not let the vicitim have a look at the license pictures to see if she recognises him. The sooner the better while he is fresh in her head. If this doesn not find him then at least a genuine attempt was made and other angles can then be looked at. I dont see you coming up with any ideas? Too hard for you??
"Caymanian accent" …..when you have other stories with someone speaking other than a Caymanian accent, please state the same as you did for this story. We have to be open about the few individuals who is causing our island to sink, no matter which nation they are from.
I agree. They should do the same for other cases as well. What makes this one any different.
Wouldn’t it be helpful if the RCIP had a sketch artist of some kind?
How many rapes under those circumstances go unreported???
Another dirty little secret to keep quiet about.
How is it that everybody seems to have a gun but me ?
This is unbelievably scary! I can’t ever feel safe in Cayman anymore.