A LONE bandit walked into the popular Spready’s Supermarket in Port Mourant, East Berbice at around 14:30hrs, and robbed the Money Gram section of close to $1M in cash, leaving the

cashier concussed and visibly traumatised.

According to a staff who saw the surveillance footage, the bandit calmly walked into the Money Gram Section of the business and presented himself to the cashier, grabbed her by the hair, and banged her head against the counter. He then reportedly jumped over the counter and emptied the cash register of all the day’s takings.
At the time of the robbery, there were no customers in the Money Gram Section of the supermarket.

“School did just over, and de place did busy, so he walk in the snackette side and go into de Money Gram section like wan customer,” the staff said, adding:
“Then suddenly he pull Rebecca hair and knock she head pon de counter; then he jump over the counter and empty all de money and run out.”
The staff said the man then left with a waiting accomplice on a CG motorcycle, and by the time an alarm was raised, he had already made good his escape.

BARE CONFUSION!
“We run out behind he and shout ‘Bandit! Bandit!’ Was bare confusion!” she said. “Dem schoolchildren run all over de place, but dem ride through the market street and gone.”
When the Guyana Chronicle visited the scene, the cashier, Rebecca Peters was shaking and could not speak. A relative, however, said that this is the second time Peters has had an encounter with bandits, the first being when her home was robbed two years ago. She was also beaten back then, the relative said.

Following the robbery, Spready’s closed its entire operation for the day. And as news of the robbery spread, many businesses in nearby Rose Hall Town immediately called it a day as well for fear of being targetted next.
Spready’s owner, Narine Singh, confessed that as a businessman, he’s afraid. He said he’s at his wit’s end, as he’s done just about everything to ensure the safety of his staff and businesses, and never expected a robbery of this nature. And in broad daylight at that!

OVER IN KILDONAN
Meanwhile, 50-year-old Nirmala Devi Persaud said she was on the phone with her daughter while cleaning fish in the backyard of her Lot 17 Kildonan Village home when she was held at gun-point and taken inside of her house, where two other bandits were busy ransacking it.
According to Persaud, also called “Aunty Doris”, the bandits kept saying to her, “Wheh de money deh? We come fuh de money!” But she kept insisting she does not have any kind of money, and gave them what she had: A purse with some change and a $5000 bill. Not satisfied with this small pickings, the men took her upstairs and continued to ransack the home, hoping to find some sort of valuables.

According to Persaud, after they realised she did not have anything else to offer, they forcibly took the earing she was wearing, and tied and gagged her, using duct tape.
Persaud, who operates a small vegetable stand, said two of the three men were masked, while the third, who had the pistol, was unmasked and of mixed race. She said they were all “young people”.
According to a neighbour, who received a call from Persaud’s daughter asking her to go and check on her mother, she saw the three men run out of the yard and into a white car.

‘OH MEH MUMMA!’
Said the woman, “She call and tell me that she was talking to Aunty Doris when she heard her say, ‘Oh meh mumma!’ She did not respond, but she could hear commotion in the background, so she asked me to go over and check on her, because she does suffer from asthma. So, when me ah walk over, me see three man run out, and a white car pull up, and dem jump in and drive off.”

The neighbour said that as she ran into Aunty Doris’ yard, she saw that the downstairs of the house was ransacked, and could hear moaning coming from upstairs. “And when me go up, me see “Aunty Doris” tie up; she hand, she foot, she head, mouth and even she nose all cover up wid duct tape,” she said, adding:

“Luckily me go in at the same time, or she woulda stifle and dead.”
In all, the bandits carted off a cellular phone, a pair of gold earrings and $5000 cash from Persaud. After reviewing surveillance footage from Spready’s Supermarket, law enforcement officers were able to pick up critical information which they are working on to capture the bandits. Investigations into both robberies are continuing.