Stabroek vendor says robbed by gun-wielding men -City Constabulary allegedly fails to intervene during incident

 

CITY vendor Selina James of 31 Da Silva Street, Newtown, Kitty was reportedly attacked by two gun-wielding men on Sunday last, while ranks at the nearby City Constabulary outpost allegedly failed to intervene during the incident.The woman told this newspaper that she had closed her mobile stand at about 01:30 hrs on Sunday, and was in the process of securing it in a storage area by the Stabroek Market Square when the incident occurred.

She said she was in the company of two men who usually secure her stall, and they had just completed their duties when she was attacked.

The distraught woman said she was in front of the City Constabulary Outpost at Stabroek when a man carrying what looked like a black handgun rushed up to her and shouted, “Gee me dat bag dat yuh gat deh!” The woman said she refused to hand over a small bag she had in her possession, and the gunman hit her on the temple with the gun, causing her to fall to the ground. He then grabbed the bag containing just over $37,000, and made good his escape on a CG motorcycle on which another man was waiting.

As the men sped off, she said, she attempted to seek help from ranks at the City Constabulary, but they had locked their doors during the ordeal.

Declining to have her photograph published for security reasons, the woman noted that this has been the fifth time she has been robbed in the past six years, and she noted that she has not received any help from the police, although all the incidents have been reported.

She said that, in 2010, she was robbed by bandits just a few rods from the Kitty Police Station. The robbers made off with $1.5M, which represented her week’s sales, which she had been taking home to deposit in her bank account the following day. She allegedly reported this matter to the police at Kitty, but they had simply taken a statement from her, and had done nothing thereafter.

The woman related that, in 2013, she was again robbed in Kitty, and the bandits made off with $1.8M in cash and phone cards she had in her person.

In 2014, bandits again attacked her in Craig Street Campbellville, and she lost $1.1M which she was taking to the bank to deposit.

She was reportedly robbed on two other occasions in the city, during which she had lost millions while transferring cash from her stall to her home.

Ms James owns one of the most popular mobile grocery stalls outside the Stabroek Market, and her stall is flocked by shoppers on a daily basis.
She noted that her attackers seem to be getting inside information about her cash transfers, since she, in good faith, had employed some questionable characters to do odd jobs for her, just to ensure they earn an honest dollar.

She is particularly aggrieved about not getting any justice from police at the Kitty Police Station, since she said she had given vivid descriptions of the men who had attacked her.

The woman is contending that the action of City Constabulary ranks during the recent incident is unprofessional and crude.

Contacted at the Stabroek Constabulary Outpost yesterday, a female official indicated that she had heard about the incident, but she said she was not aware that ranks had closed the doors of the outpost during the incident. She promised to investigate the matter.

In relation to the matters that Ms James had allegedly reported at the Kitty Police Station, an official said there had been no recent reports from the woman, but informed that reports made years ago were being dealt with by investigators there, but the rank informed that those investigators were unavailable to shed light on the matters. (Alex Wayne)

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