Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Cutlass bandits tie-up, rob N/A shopkeeper
Two men armed with cutlasses broke into, invaded and robbed Joyce Fung- Fook, a popular New Amsterdam store owner, at her Main and Alexander Streets residence.
Mrs. Fung-Fook was awakened around 03:00 hrs by one of the men, who had threatened her on the bed as soon as she opened her eyes.
Mrs. Fung-Fook standing at the point where the bandits gained entry.
“Be co-operative wid we or else we would kill yuh,” the intruder whispered.
The woman, who lives alone in the three-storey building (which also houses a grocery in the bottom flat), received the shock of her life at that moment, after which the men tore cloth and made face masks, concealing their identities. The robbers also ripped pieces of the woman’s sleeping clothes and tied her up during the ordeal.
“I said, ‘Ow son, don’t kill me…I will give you what you want …Don’t you have a mother too?’”
She was then instructed to “lie down on the bed and tell we what you have.” Fung-Fook then directed the men to a large amount of jewellery and cash.
“Over an hour–and-a-half they were there with me.” The robbers also carted off with several bottles of antique liquour that Fung-Fook had on display atop her refrigerator.
The woman believes it was the same robbers who attempted to gain entry into her home on October 14, last, but were unsuccessful. She reported that matter to the Central Police Station.
During the 90-minute ordeal, Fung- Fook managed to secretly set herself free but was seen by the men and this angered them even more, so she begged for mercy. “I asked them, ‘Ow son, y’all don’t kill me, I’m begging you’…and they asked me if I want to see my grandchildren.”
“The [nighty] cloth was very slippery cloth, so I loosed myself and they said that they will kill my [expletive] and then I begged them to tie me back, so they burst up two of my pillowcases and tied me back.”
“They asked where the safe was and where more money was…I told them all I had was $10,000 in the safe, [and] that my husband passed away (a few years ago) and I spent all the money.”
She directed them to where the keys were and they opened the safe. The men then said that if they found out that she was lying, “we gon kill yuh [expletive],” Fung- Fook said, while breaking down in tears.
The woman said that she was very scared and still shaken, “but I made myself brave”.
The robbers escaped through one of the front windows. She immediately telephoned the police and they responded within ten minutes. They took photos, statements and checked for fingerprints. Fung- Fook and her [deceased] husband had been operating the P&J Fung-Fook and Daughters Grocery since 1995. Investigations are continuing. (Leon Suseran)
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