Armed robbery in West Bay
(CNS): The RCIPS has confirmed that Joe-Enas Liquor store, West Church Street, in West Bay was robbed by a single armed gunman this afternoon (Thursday 27 January). Police say that sometime around 3:35pm to 3:40pm a man armed with what appeared to be a handgun entered the store and pointed the gun at a female member of staff and demanded cash. He then pointed the gun towards the ceiling and she heard a loud bang. The suspect grabbed the cash pan and ran off from the store. He was last seen entering Gunter Link where it is believed he entered a vehicle and made off. The suspect is described as being approximately 6’3” in height, slim build, wearing a long sleeved dark sweat top anddark jean pants. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
He had what appeared to be a white shirt/cloth covering his head and face. The woman was not injured in the incident.
West Bay detectives and Scenes of Crime officers are currently at the scene. It cannot be confirmed at this time whether a shot was discharged as forensic examination is currently ongoing.
Anyone who was in the area at the time of the robbery who saw the man enter the store or run off after the incident is asked to contact West Bay CID. Officers would also be keen to speak to anyone who saw a car drive off at speed from the area.
Information can be passed to West Bay police station 949-3999 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477 (TIPS).
Category: Headline News
In West Bay now? Oh my goodness, the crime and violence has even extended to that district.
1055 wrote
are calling for Mr. Braggs to return…sorry…I have to object to him as well…he too, was woefully inadequate at making hard decisions…one only has to remember that he was in charge of the RCIP(s) when the inmates took over the asylum(HMP Northward for those of you who weren’t familiar) and he allowed the situation to progress from a simple case of organized civil disobedience on the part of the inmates into a full scale riot, which went on for over two months
Sorry but that is not actual fact. David Thursfield was at the wheel. Braggs was acting Commish at the time but he was back on Island along with the so called super hero Haines. David also was the one not too long before the riots neg. with the prisoners that took Offcials hostage.
As someone who was actually present at this incident, please let me clarify my earlier post…
You are correct when you say that Thursfield was "at the wheel" but he WAS NOT PRESENT on the day the inmates actually took control of the facility…BRAGGS WAS…and was as such "In charge"…and Yes, C/S Haines was there, along with quite a number of his DTF officers, who, BTW were armed and equipped to take back the prison…Acting Commissioner Braggs WOULD NOT read the RIOT ACT and allow C/S Haines to regain control of the situation…and tried to "negotiate" with inmates who had no leverage to negotiate..they had allowed all of the prison staff who were inside at the time to leave…SO, instead of making the Command Decision to quell the insurrection, he chose to "negotiate"… and we all remember how that turned out…THAT was my point…Whoever is in charge of the RCIP(s) needs to have the BACKBONE to make a decision when it needs to be made and not pu$$yfoot around and try to be PC and warm and cuddly…policing is a dirty business, sometimes..and if you are afraid of what people will think of you…then you have no business being in charge…
Calling Mr Braggs back??? Are you out of your mind? Again you have short term memory. He basically just walked off the job…to this date we still don’t know what happened. Crime was at a high when he was the commissioner. Crime was here then but no one wanted to address it. It has just escalated over the years. When the prison burnt down in the 90’s that is when they were robbing the ATM machines…don’t you remember all the robberies there were at that time? One worker at I believe it was Kentucky Fried Chicken on West Bay Road got hit in the face with a gun from the robbers.
There were gangs then, but everyone kept saying "oh no we don’t have any gangs". Up until just a few years ago the police were denying it. This problem didn’t happen over night, it has been going on for years, but everyone who could have done something didn’t want to admit there was a problem. When Thursfield was at the wheel, there was quite a few incidents happening, remember at that time people were saying he wasn’t doing his job correctly because the crime was getting out of hand. That was over ten years ago!!!!
While I for one, am all for the hiring and promotion of Caymanians, it is not reasonable to call for an all Caymanian police dept. The RCIP(s) has never been and will never be ALL Caymanian..and this is ok…however, what the RCIP(s) needs is someone who understand how to lead a Multi-Cultural organization,and sorry, but this Commissioner is NOT a leader…Listening to the statements he has made recently concerning the apparent "recent" discovery that this country is being used to transship drugs to the US and UK, leads one to become of the opinion that Mr. Baines has only arrived last week, and not been here for over a year now…Sorry, Mr. Baines, but you have failed…you should swallow your English pride..admit you are hopelessly out of your league and resign quietly. In case you missed it…this is NOT the UK…UK police policies DO NOT WORK here…they have NEVER worked here and they WILL NEVER work here…and for those of you who are calling for Mr. Braggs to return…sorry…I have to object to him as well…he too, was woefully inadequate at making hard decisions…one only has to remember that he was in charge of the RCIP(s) when the inmates took over the asylum(HMP Northward for those of you who weren’t familiar) and he allowed the situation to progress from a simple case of organized civil disobedience on the part of the inmates into a full scale riot, which went on for over two months….Not since Mr. Tony Gray, has the RCIP(s) had a REAL leader…and I don’t expect to see someone of his caliber take over the job any time soon…
I was taking some American clients on a small tour of West Bay yesterday and telling them how safe the island was compared to other places and as soon as I said that the robber ran in front of our car thru the bushes with money flying out of the cash register into the street and the store clerk running after him screaming for help. He had his head covered so we were unable to see his face. Needless to say I was incredibly embarrassed and speechless. Someone need to do something now or kiss tourism goodbye forever!!!
Well…by that description the criminal has to be Scottish. Why can we not just start with “Dark Complection or White”? I guess they really don’t need our help!
I thought at a media event yesterday Mr. Baines said the media wassensationalizing everything. Joke, Joke, Joke.
All the comments are great below, and fully agree:
“The Police Commissioner’s strategy is not working”
“we need experience officers from crime ridden cities with that type of experience.”
“10 seconds literally from the police station”
“That’s an average of 1 armed robbery EVERY FOUR DAYS” Maybe we will reach 91 this year!
“Guess the Police Station will be the next place to be robbed! ”
Cayman wake up. Get an all CAYMANIAN police force. Just look at what happend at other former BOT’s. Don’t let history repeat itself here please……this is a beautiful island and can be different than the rest of the Caribbean.
I measured the distance – 500′. Guess the Police Station will be the next place to be robbed! 🙂
let me guess that you all know when your next door neighbour is just about to be robbed so you call the police just before it happens? If you can anticipate all robberies that would help the police greatly as they would be on site before it happens instead of having to wait until the crime has taken place. Help the police in this way and you have avoided all crime. Try it please
I see this is the 6th armed robbery for 2011. Um…it’s Jan 27. 2011 started just 27 days ago. That’s an average of 1 armed robbery EVERY FOUR DAYS.
And this one just down the street from the police station.
I’d say the government needs to "DREDGE" out the crime first before considering any other dredging projects.
Unacceptable.
The Police Commissioner’s strategy is not working. While he is not to blame for the crime, society is, his strategy to capture these villains leaves much to be desired. Firstly, his officers are unarmed and in no position to even defend themselves, much less apprehend an armed suspect. Secondly, his intelligence methods aren’t that great at identifying or even getting him one step ahead of the game. I noticed things went quiet at Christmas and now it has started back. Why? Government, please give them the tools and the legislation they need to get ahead of the game and let’s task him to do it. The law should never be in favour of criminals. They and their lawyers are making a mockery of the judicial system with their pathetic stories and lies trying to get off or get leniency. After three strikes, it is clear that that individual is up to no good and needs a long time in prison for rehabilitation purposes.
In broad daylight; yards from the police station is very disturbing indeed. Imagine for a moment someone walking in while the robbery is in progress. No this is unnaceptable fo say the least. If we have gangs commiting those crimes we need help in tackling the gangs, robberies. drugs in both undercover agents and armed task force . I am not blaming our police force but we need experience officers from crime ridden cities with that type of experience. They can pose as tourist, pretend to be drug users , working for utility companies on the roads. monitering phone conversations whatever it takes. We can simply be at the wrong time at the wrong place. Start paying CONFIDENTIAL informant known to very few and keep them confidential. Get to the root of the CRACK dealers. A person on crack would turn their mother in. Go after the BIGGER fish. We need INTELLIGENCE to get to the heart of this.
yup…10 seconds literally from the police station!! Forget trying to coordinate.
I guess this is a crack-head or rap-music induced robbery…better yet: a crack-head with earphone on listening to rap music…. as mentioned by our Police Comm. What a mess!!