America Street Robbery, Terror attack...Suspect in custody, others being hunted

America Street Robbery, Terror attack…Suspect in custody, others being hunted – Crime Chief

Nov 05, 2015 News

One suspect has been arrested and police have received intelligence that points to the positive identification of some of the heavily armed gunmen who robbed and terrorized America Street money changers on Tuesday night.

Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said, last evening, that the suspect who is in custody, is known to the police for being in gun robberies. He also confirmed that the police are pursuing suspects based on intelligence that have positively revealed the identity of several suspects. “We are also pursuing all avenues to apprehend them in the fastest possible time.
While noting that a quantity of spent shells representing those used in the robbery as coming from high powered weapons such as AK47 and M70 rifles, he said there were also some 9mm spent shells removed from the scene.
Based on police investigations thus far, three persons were robbed, including Ryburn Fraser, who lost $1.5M in cash and jewellery, Osafo Warde, who lost about $400,000 and another person according to police sources identified as Chief Mike who was relieved of his cellular phones.
Meanwhile, yesterday the normally busy America Street was quiet as many of the money changers were visibly absent from their usual spots following Tuesday’s brazen armed gang attack.
This publication counted five small money changers who were not keen on talking about the ordeal of the night before but all agreed that life goes on.
Among the lot was one who had to run for his life the night before. He informed that “most of dem bannaz stay away today (yesterday) but I got to live. So I taking my chances, plus we got more police circling.”
Another said that he couldn’t be bothered about the issue of the night before. “I wasn’t there and so I’m not bothered.”
Among those absent was Ryburn Fraser who was relieved of $1.5M by the marauding gunmen. He reportedly “just passed by” yesterday but didn’t stay around for long.”
Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud yesterday confirmed that a police investigation team was checking footage from nearby businesses following Tuesday night’s America Street robbery by a heavily armed gang.

The location where money changers were robbed one day later.

However while victims of the experience likened the unfolding to that of the Blackie 1999 situation Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud begs to differ stating that he cannot make the comparison. “It is a robbery and the police are investigating.”
The Commissioner confirmed that from early yesterday morning an investigating team was dispatched to the location to review footage captured on cameras from businesses in the area which will inform what action is to be taken.
Addressing the expressed views of victims that there is a growing number of young men engaged in criminality, the Commissioner said he does not see a growing number of persons involved.
“Right now we are about six or seven percent over where we were last year and we are below where we were in 2013.”
The Commissioner said that while crime is a big chunk of general security concerns, steps are being taken to address the issue through a strategy that is currently being employed.
“A big chunk of that is capacity building,” he said, and reiterated that by the end of 2015 there will be 1200 new recruits deployed in addition to a smart city proposal and the street camera expansion programme.
“We are also bringing emergency services under one roof,” the Commissioner said. The force is engaged in constant training such as the just concluded Justice Society training investigators training programme.
With more training happening on a daily basis, with more resources and more professional standards being applied, Commissioner Persaud assures that the Guyana Police Force will be in a better position to deal with crime.” (Mondale Smith)