By Shirley Thomas
IMAGINE losing a $150,000 Samsung Galaxy S6 phone in a dense crowd such as a Mavado show and retrieving it in less than 12 hours – well, it actually happened recently.Strategic planning and execution on the part of ranks at the Cove & John Police Station last Monday made this amazing, ‘movie style’ retrieval possible.

The theft of the phone was reported to the police by its owner around mid-afternoon, and prompt and shrewd police intelligence led ranks at the station to where the pick-pockets might be with the phone and at what time.

It was high drama outside the Golden Grove Market shortly after 16:00 hrs that afternoon, when the Cove & John Police, acting on information, swooped down at the place identified. In a swift and slick operation, they encircled three teenagers who were acting suspiciously.

Three police ranks, using an unmarked motorcar along with a motorcycle driven by Detective Constable Samuels, were on a stakeout in the vicinity of the Golden Grove Market where the men were hiding out. Then on the stroke of the hour on which the men had agreed to carry out an action, they advanced and so did the police.

As the young men advanced, they recognized one of the ranks and gasped, then bolted, but the police using the unmarked car and Constable Samuels’ motorcycle quickly cordoned the men.

Then, as if by divine intervention, just at that moment, a passing police patrol car drove up and spontaneously joined the cordon. Two of the young men managed to escape, but the one who was allegedly the mastermind behind the robbery was nabbed and taken to the Cove and John Police Station.

The operation was so ‘neat and clean’ and well planned and executed, that persons witnessing it exclaimed, “Wow! This is real movie style!” The phone was retrieved, without the police having to discharge a single round.

The owner of the phone wishes to express their profound gratitude to the ranks of Cove & John Police Station for their dedication to duty, and a well-executed job.