Armed men strike at Gino’s

| 11/01/2011

(CNS): The second armed robbery of 2011and the first of the year involving firearms took place at around 10pm on Monday evening when police say two masked men armed with hand guns held up Gino’s Pizza Parlor on the West Bay Road. George Town detectives have now launched an investigation following the incident in which they say no shots were fired and no one was hurt. The men had threatened staff and a number of customers however, before making off with a sum of cash from the register. The armed robbers reportedly escaped in the direction of the Lone Star bar. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

The suspects, who had their faces covered, are described as both being around 6’ in height, wearing baseball caps, dark coloured tops and jeans. Detective Constable Karen McQuade, of George Town CID is appealing for anyone who was in the area at the relevant time last night and witnessed the robbery or the suspects fleeing the scene to come forward.

Anyone with information should call George Town police station on 949-4222 or the confidential
Crime Stoppers number 800-8477 (TIPS).
 

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  1. Town Cryer says:

    Its the same juveniles who dont pass anything in school and have nothing in their heads after 5 years at the high school who are committing these crimes. All one has to do is to take a look at the front page to the Cayman News Service and you’ll see an article talking about the Judicial System facing more serious case committed by juveniles.

    Crime wont stop until Caymanians on a whole look within themselves and decide to make education a major priority for its children. No longen can MOE continue to change a school sytem every 5 years depending on who takes office.After all this is not some sort game, its real life. Can you imagine kids being matriculated into new grades not on what they passed or learnt from the previous year but on EFFORT and BEHAVIOUR. What abouth the achievement part. So year after year you have kids progressing throughschool who haven’t learnt anything , and they wonder why crime is the way it is.

     

  2. I wonder why these businesses do not install panic buttons under their counters where it is easily accessible.  This "might" enable  the police to arrive on the scene while the robbers are still on the premises or very nearby.

  3. West Bayer says:

    I tink the RCIP need training from the A&E network….maybe we should bring down Steven Segal to help fight crime or get some cops from 1st 48!!! Am sure we’d be alot furder ahead than dis by now!!!

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Fla. jogger won’t be charged for shooting teen

      •  

      – Wed Jan 12, 6:39 am ET

      TAMPA, Fla. – A pistol-packing jogger in Florida won’t be charged for shooting and killing a teenager who attacked him during a midnight run.

      Prosecutors said Tuesday they are convinced Thomas Baker acted in self defense when he fired eight shots at 18-year-old Carlos Mustelier near Tampa in November .

      Prosecutors say Florida’s "stand-your-ground" law was a factor in their decision. The law, passed in 2005, gives people the right to use deadly force as long as they "reasonably believe" it is necessary to stop another person from hurting them.

      Baker told police he reached for his gun when the teen punched him in the face. Baker has a concealed weapons permit.

      The teen was hit four times in the chest, back and buttocks. He died at the scene.

       

      Do I need to say anymore….sorry Baines, people DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROTECT THEMSELVES!!! Rather be tried by 12 then carried by 12. 

  4. Anonymous says:

    I hope the owners of these late night stores are talking to each other, getting organised and receiving input from the police.  We’re at the point now where if you own this type of business the chances are your staff will face at least one armed robbery during 2011, so get ready.  The best way to protect your staff is to make sure the robbers get caught and can’t come back.

    • Anonymous says:

      You are absolutely correct. It is clear that the police are not capable of protecting the people of these islands from the criminals. We must take charge of the situation ourselves! Civilians can organise and form neighborhood watches to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary and challenge anything or anyone that seems suspicious. Business owners need to share information on suspicious activity as well. Together we can make a difference!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Patience people the cops will get them one at a time and they will be sent to jail for a long time. When they come out they will be marked for life, and there really is not that great amount of them.

    the good news is that no one has been killed and that is because no resistance is been offerred and the bandits are not scarred, they are not getting much money everybody uses plastic and even if they get away with it 10 times before they get caught they will gone for a long time.

    patience.

  6. son of sand says:

    What the heck are we paying these people to do any place else in the world heads would roll and people would be sacked. Something really smells bad here in Cayman. No one is being held accountable or responsible all we hear is chat and not one solution offered . We have more police, security councils and committees than North Korea.????? Yet we drawing a blank when it comes to crime.

  7. noname says:

    Can’t even get a simple piece of Pizza nowdays, without having to look down the barrel of a gun stuck in your face. What is law enforcement doing on this island, taking pictures of the Kittiwake dive site,boy these guys have got their priorities real screwed up. Can’t blame the society for that one.

    • Anonymous says:

      I was out on the water the other day and I slowed downa little to take a look at the Kittiwake site. Immediately, a Harbour Patrol boat came speeding up and parked itself between my boat and the dive site to make sure I wasn’t going to tie up to one of the bouys. Their priorities really are messed up if they are that concerned about little old me.Why can’t the authorities respond to actual crimes that fast?

  8. Mr Smoochie says:

    Honestly how can anyone have confidence in the RCIPS when you have two senior officers telling the public that they are disappointed that people are breaking the law and one asking criminals to turn themselves in can you imagine?

  9. Law enforcement in the US states that the most unreliable evidence is eye witness testimony due to the fact that you will have numerous descriptions etc.

    I think the RCIPS needs to concentrate on forensic evidence mainly making sure they don’t leave anything behind for days on end.

  10. Anonymous says:

    12:45. Posted:

    "The multiple witnesses saying different things about a sudden scary event? Everyone’s a detective"

     

    But not anyone in the RCIP!

  11. just wondering says:

    OK, exactly when do we get to start shooting back?  Isn’t it obvious that what we’ve been doing didn’t work?

  12. Anonymous says:

    It is quite simple. The police are mainly Caymanians who are faced with a constant conflict of interest.

    Do I arrest my nephew or deal with him in house?

    Simple solution; Expat police, trial by judge or imported jurors and tough sentencing with prison overseas for armed crime. Ban guns altogther with minimum five year sentance for possession. We will have to take the risk with the agouti population. Armed robbery ten years minimum.

    This is not intended as a slur on the good people of Cayman but it cant be dealt with internally anymore because there is no impartiality. Time to get to grip of the bad people of Cayman.

     

    • Anonymouse. says:

      You dont seem to know the statistics. Check and you will see that a large number of the RCIPS is expats. Did you not see how busy they were during the Kittiwaje sinking?

      Certainly we cpuld do with a lot more of that. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

    • Anonymous says:

      This poster advocates a society that would not be responsible for itself. People here know who these criminals are. It’s a matter of citizenship and being responsible for the type of society one wants. People need to step up to the plate and do what is required of them.

  13. Anonymous says:

    How much dough did they get away with?

  14. Anonymous says:

    i don’t blame them for going to Lonestar straight afterwards…the place has really improved!

  15. Anonymous says:

    Come one now guys! your little "bad boy" scheme of robbing every who in whoseville is getting old.  Give it a rest, no one is impressed with your "accomplishments." It’s a new year, try something new for a change, the only person you are really robbing is yourself!

    And to the RCIPS it’s a new year, try upgrading your standards and actually catch some of these fools for a change! Goodness! No one is impressed with your abilities to catch someone with 20% tint on the roads. Thats pathetic! I’m sure even a loyal viewer of CSI could solve this! Now if you dont want to get your hands dirty then seek other employment. ’cause as far as im concerned you’re just another unecessary cost to the public purse!

  16. By way of Deception says:

    My friend don’t waste you breath or your good typing hand writing stuff about the RCIPS. This place is lost there are so many unsolved murders and robberies now you could not bring it back if you reversed time. It is very clear what the UK & FCO agenda is and it is not reducing & solving crime, It is about employment opportunities and control of the law enforcement arm of governments in the overseas territory. Thereby controlling the OTs and they did this by playing the corruption card on the respective populations. Yet not a single successful prosecution for the offence. However have no fear the day that one of their well to do citizens has the misfortune of falling victim of such crime. I can assure you "extreme measures" will be no doubt used to deal with that situation including emergency powers and more draconian laws. XXXX How is that for a "strategic overview" of the real situation.

    • Anonymous says:

      Q:"How is that for a "strategic overview" of the real situation? "

      A: Xenophobic gibberish.

       

    • Anonymous says:

      AHHHHHH, the conspiracy theory is alive an well……. paranoia anyone?

  17. Anonymous says:

    Let’s be fair here!! So long as this society continues to harbour known criminals and refuses to assist the police with their investigations, the blame for our current situation can not rest with the police.  Start poking your fingers at the right people and help the police get them off the streets.

    • Anonymous says:

      Truth.  Thank you.

    • Anonymous says:

      Rubbish. The police are inept or something worse. There was a post on here by the owner of Reflections about the careless way they ‘investigated’ the robberies there – did not follow up on leads, collect evidence etc. There are many similar stories. There is also the long delays before attending the scene of a crime. I understand it was some 14 minutes before they arrived at the scene of the Butterfield Bank robbery.   Were they waiting to ensure they criminals were not in the vicinity? If this had been a traffic matter with sirens blaring and blue lights flashing they would have arrived there lickety split. The police station is about 1/2 mile away.  

      I am tempted to believe the police may have an understanding with the criminals.     

      • Anonymous says:

        "I am tempted to believe the police may have an understanding with the criminals"

        That would explain quite a lot, wouldn’t it. Why did it take so long to respond to the bank robberies if the police station is right down the street? Why can’t they track down the black Nissan use asa getaway car on this tiny island? It does make you wonder…..

    • Animaliberator says:

      This is in fact quite true. Allow me to use the phrase I used recently in another article which was stated in the 1940’s by Albert Einstein wich applies very well once again:

      "The world is a dangerous place, but not by those who do evil, but by those who look on and do nothing".

      Grand Cayman is less then a village compared to most other places and everybody here is known to somebody.Each time we read an crime article regardless of where in the world that may be, police are requesting input from the general population as they do here for the same reasons. We have everything in place to provide information anonymously and yet the big cities solve more crimes then we do relatively speaking.

      Seems to me we have too many people willing to put up with crime rather then being a whistle blower so to speak so we can all enjoy again a bit of the peaceful times the way it used to be not even all that long ago.

      Perhaps it is not bad enough just yet before the phones start ringing.

      Soon come I hope!

    • Rafaelle says:

       That sounds really wonderful and i suppose that’s how it should work. My question to you is would you put your life and those of your love ones in the hands of the RCIPS from what you see is occurring here and if you think it is all societies fault you go right head, but someone needs to enlighten you that you do it at your own peril. Those who don’t understand learn really quickly from personal and traumatic experiences.

    • Da bracster says:

       Putting all the blame on society is just another lame excuse and is frequently used by law enforcement to justify their ineptness or in action or incompetence.

    • Anonymous says:

      Crime has become an epidemic in every country.  Why do you have an answer for Cayman but none for the others?

      • Anonymous says:

        That’s a good point. Maybe we should take a look at other jurisdictions of similar size and population to see what works (and doesn’t) work there. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here.

  18. Anonymous says:

     

    This is outrageous! Before all of the comments start condemning the police officers I hope that a stronger message can be sent to our politicians!  Yes the Commissioner of Police is ultimately responsible for his department but is the Government making this a priority as well?
    Many of us are uncomfortable in our own homes despite them being in relatively safe and quite neighborhoods, but when we have armed robbers hitting the heart of our Tourism Industry during the peak season, not just our lives are threatened but our also our livelihood!
    Caymanians and all of those who have a stake in Cayman need to demand answers now!  Can the Commissioner tell us if he has the tools and the man power to deal with this or is Government (politics) or finances holding him back?  Can the Ministry of internal and external affairs tell us if the Commissioner is the wrong man for the job? Can the elected Government come right out and tell us if it’s the Governor is the issue?
    We also need to ask questions such as where are the much promised CCTV cameras or is politics holding this up also?  What happened to the West Bay road police station and special patrols to protect our tourism products?
    Finally to all of us who live here…If you know something report it! Do not start with “I am not going to bring attention to me” because when the police do get it right (and start to heavily patrol our commercial and tourism district) if arrest aren’t made then guess where these criminals will strike next? Yes in our relatively safe and quite neighborhood!
     
    God bless these Islands and may those who live in them start caring about them.  
    • Anonymous says:

      Want to know where the CCTV cameras are?  The government car park behind Immigration.

  19. Anonymous says:

    OK: From this moment on, I don’t want to hear of 1 more boast by the RCIP’s "Baines, Howells & others", talking ‘smugly’ of how many speeding tickets, seat belt tickets & DUI arrests they’ve made in the last few weeks!!!

    You say your "disappointed with motorists"… WELL I’M DISAPPOINTED WITH YOU!!!!!! You can’t even police a 100 sq. mile piece of volcanic rock sticking out of the ocean with a 120:1 ratio of civilians to police officers!!!!!! For the record, NYC has a ‘civy to cop’ ratio of 595:1….

    You say you’re "keeping the roads safe"…? YOU CERTAINLY WERE NOT KEEPING THAT SECTION OF WB ROAD SAFE LAST NIGHT WERE YOU???!!!

    Respect is ‘earned’ and not ‘given’. Just because you put on the uniform doesn’t entitle you to respect. And subsequently, due to your dire and embarrassing performance, your respect has been diminished to nigh on ZERO ‘0’!!! 

    You do the bare minimum of what makes you ‘look good’ on paper! Why..? Because it’s easy to stop a motorist who’s registration expired 3 days ago or was doing 35 mph in a 25 zone…

    I think your attention to detail and work ethic may become some what more ‘enhanced’ if a few more of these ‘casual’ traffic offense stops started to shoot at you once you had pulled them over to the side of the road like they do in other countries occasionally… Maybe then you might address violent crime on the island with a bit more ‘gusto’..?

    And a friendly piece of advice for the ‘not-so-devoted’ in law enforcement: Do us all a favor and hand in your badge and uniform and go man a check-out counter in Kirks supermarket!!!

    And for god sake, STOP bringing in these limp-d!*# cops from the UK and Jamaica!!! – Get some real cops… I’ve always been a fan of Chechen (from Chechnya) Cops…. They like to kill criminals over there… And funny enough, their senior officers and courts stand right behind them too…. That word is called SUPPORT… A concept yet to make it hear.

    • Anonymous says:

      For the record Cayman is not volcanic rock; it is a coral atoll. Other than that, you are spot on.

      • expat eric says:

        It was actually tetonic plate movement and volcanism that created the Cayman Islands.

        "Located on the northern margin of the Cayman Trough, the Cayman Ridge has formed over geologic time as a result of frictional forces created by the tectonic plate movement of the North American and Caribbean plates. This friction has caused a submarine mountain range to form on the southern margin of the North American plate near the North American/Caribbean tectonic plate margin. Covering over around 1500 km from the Sierra Maestra Mountains of Cuba to the Misteriosa Bank near Belize and the Gulf of Honduras, this submarine range does not have active volcanoes in the vicinity of the Cayman Islands.

        Despite the fact that Cayman Ridge does not have any active volcanoes presently, this ridge has experienced volcanic activity in the geologic past. Geologic investigations of the Cayman Ridge have revealed that one of the initial known episodes of explosive volcanism in the Caribbean region occurred during the late Paleocene through the middle Eocene in the form of island arc volcanoes that extended from the Cayman Ridge to the currently-exposed Sierra Maestra range of eastern Cuba. Analysis of seafloor core samples collected offshore of the Sierra Maestra have revealed a substantial lower to middle Eocene volcanic ash and volcaniclastic turbidite succession that can be correlated to the Sierra Maestra arc of Cuba."

        I guess since Cayman thinks it was a country in 1503, one more historical error is not that bad.

         

        • Anonymous says:

          Alright, Cayman is a coral atoll on top of volcanic rock. I stand corrected. 12:30 is still spot on!

        • Anonymous says:

          Can you please give your references. Thank you

           

  20. I see you says:

    Ok, so they went home for Christmas, spent all their wealth from 2010 robberies and are now back to continue on their crime spree. 

    I am calling on the people of the Cayman Islands to sign their names to a petition to fight criminal activity such as this, instead of focusing their negative attention on things that could ultimately benefit the island.

    • Anonymous says:

      If only for a moment I could believe that, then I would be happy. Unfortunately, their "home" is also our home and we have to get used to it.

      Getting used to it does not mean that we have to like it, or accept the fact that we cannot change it. What we need to do is get rid of a government that will not even acknowledge that it is happening.

      Maybe its easy to miss all that’s happening when you’re jetting of to the Bahamas in a private aircraft.

      • Anonymous says:

        "Unfortunately, their "home" is also our home and we have to get used to it".

        Since you apparently know who they are you have an obligation to turn them in. 

        • Anonymous says:

          I have no idea who they are, I only know that they did not leave from or return to my house, and if they should ever choose to visit my house then their "leavings" and "returnings" will be severely curtailed.

          I am not so naive to believe that they are all foreigners, but whether they be foreign or native, our paths will only cross once if they come to my abode.

    • Anonymous says:

      "Ok, so they went home for Christmas"

      How do you know they weren’t already "home"? Are you only in favor of fighting criminal activity perpetrated by foreigners?

    • Anonymous says:

      OK, "I see you", so the crimes are being committed by foreigners, not Caymanians. You get the BOZO award along with all the other idjuts who refuse to believe violent crime here is being committed by Caymanians. Check the CNS headlines today. "He’s a Caymanian born and bred, …………."

  21. Anonymous says:

    Were the thieves of a light complexion or brown complexion? A detailed description would assist any local witnesses to support the  possible apprehension of the "armed robbers".

    • Anonymous says:

      "Their faces were covered" for crissakes. No doubt a "detailed description" would be helpful but have you ever tried to get one from multiple witnesses saying different things about a sudden scary event? Everyone’s a detective…

      • Anonymous says:

        The good old US might be able to give us some assistance. Just look at how quick they were able to get the guy that just did the shooting. Within minutes.

    • Anonymous says:

      I think you meant "impossible" apprehension.

    • Anonymous says:

      could be a tourist

      • Anonymous says:

        At this rate, we will soon be a tourist destination for common criminals – absolutely no chance of getting caught here.