– gun, ammo taken in $3M heist

By Jeune Bailey Van Keric
PENSIONER Andrew Dos Ramos was, in the wee hours of Friday, awakened from sleep in his Lot 5 Edinburgh Village, East Bank Berbice home by three bandits, who wrapped him in the mosquito net that was open over his bed.

“As they were wrapping me I fought, but they succeeded in duct-taping my feet (and) hands, along with my mouth and nose,” the 67-year-old recalled as he sat in a hammock in his yard. “They twitched my left arm backwards; as a result, it is dislocated. They made demands for the gun, jewelry and money whilst ransacking the bedroom. “However, although my mouth was duct-taped, there was a slight opening, and I managed to scream ‘Thief! Thief!’

“My daughter, who was occupying another bedroom, responded; but after she saw the men, she retreated into her room. They then kicked her door open,” Dos Ramos detailed.

And 45-year-old Kamlawattie Dos Ramos, known as Jenny, recalled being awakened by the dog barking. She later learnt that the dog had been fed portions of dhall puri, which were seen outside the partially meshed yard, into which the bandits gained entrance after cutting a hole.

Having gained entry into the yard, the bandits then forced open the bathroom window in the lower flat, gaining access into the house, and thereafter pouncing on the elderly man.
Jenny told reporters that two bandits entered her room, duct-taped her mouth, sat on her back, and vised her in the process of demanding her father’s gun, money and jewelry.

“I stared at death. I was fighting the lanky bandit as he was vising me. I wanted him to loose my neck as I was losing my breath. I only got breathing space when they wanted me to answer a question.

“A dreadlocked bandit duct-taped (my mouth) before ransacking the room. They took the money from the metal container, (and) ransacked the wardrobe and the dresser, from where they removed my deceased mother’s wedding and engagement rings and gold bangles.

“They also removed jewels that my father’s parents had given him and he had handed it over to my brothers, but they (the brothers) did not take it to their matrimonial homes; the jewels were left with me. I had my personal jewelry too. All were stolen,” the traumatized woman said.

During the hour-long ordeal, the bandits also took her father’s shotgun and seventy-five rounds of ammunition which were recently bought. Several bottles of whisky which were given to her father by his overseas-based friends, paint intended to rehabilitate their home, and groceries were also carted off.

The Dos Ramoses estimate their losses to be in the vicinity of $3M.

The woman revealed that, after the intruders had left, she managed to rub her mouth continuously at the jagged edge of her floor model television, ripping off the duct tape in the process. Her feet were not bound. She then called out to neighbours, who rushed over and assisted.

“I thank God for my neighbour, because if he did not respond my father would have died. We called the police on 911, but there was no response. Eventually one of my relatives had a police rank’s number, which we called before help came about a half-hour after the incident.”

It was after the incident that she realized that the family car, PEE 9829, had also been ransacked and sums of money intended for grocery shopping had been removed.

Just August 21 last, a family was robbed at the Edinburgh Public Road, just a stone’s throw away from the Dos Ramos home.