–cart off day’s takings, other valuables

THE Harold family of Number 73 Village, East Berbice Corentyne, had to run for their lives when six armed men broke into their home in the wee hours of the morning on Monday.
The incident reportedly occurred at around 02:00hrs as the men shot their way into the family’s two-storied dwelling and business place, and managed to cart off a quantity of jewellery and an undisclosed sum of cash.
In the aftermath, the patriarch has been left nursing gunshot wounds, the wife a sprained ankle, and the son multiple cuts to the feet.
According to Andrew, the Harolds’ 19-year-old son, he was awoken around 02:00 hrs by a loud banging sound followed by the shattering of glass.
But when he looked up and saw the kitchen window moving, the youngster said he immediately realised that someone was trying to gain entry into the house, so he ran to his parents room to warn them of the impending danger.
“When me wake up,” Andrew said, “me hear something ah bang and glass breaking. Suh, when me watch up, me see de kitchen window ah move and me run to meh parents room. Same time dem seh, ‘Bandit!’ and we hear couple gunshot, suh we run upstairs and close de middle door.”
Andrew explained that after securing the door at reference, which is an inner door made of steel that separates the two floors, he and his parents secreted themselves in a bedroom on the upper flat of the house.
But after hearing the men continuously banging away and shooting at the steel door to get upstairs, they decided to make a run for it, since they feared the men would eventually gain entry into the bedroom.
Said he: “Dem start knocking de door, but dem can’t break it, so dem start shoot it and mek hole fuh get to the lock on the inside. But de lock jam; but we know dem gon’ eventually get in and shoot we, so we decide fuh open de front veranda and jump down.”
While he and his mother managed to make it to the western neighbour’s yard, Andrew said, his father, whose feet were broken in 11 places from a previous incident, decided to head east.
“Li’l bit after, me hear two more shots and daddy holler,” he said.
Picking up the story, Andrew’s dad, Rakesh said he managed to climb down in his bid to escape, but as he hit the ground, two shots rang out.
“When me reach ground, me hear ‘Bang! Bang!’ And me feel something ah bu’n meh whole skin; all meh face and foot, and me fall down,” the 41-year-old businessman said, adding:
“But me get up quick and run out to dem next side neighbour who tek me in. And meh call meh brudda-in-law fuh come and collect we.” He also tried calling the Springlands Police Station, but without success. “Dem nah ah answer meh,” he said.

When he eventually did get on to them, they told him they were on their way, but never showed up at his home until about an hour later. And this was after his brother-in-law had already taken him to the hospital.
He is of the view that had the police responded promptly, they would have captured or cornered the men, but by the time they got there, the men had already made good their escape with the day’s sales and other valuables, along with the surveillance footage.
He was rushed to the Skeldon Hospital, then transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where 15 pellets were removed from various parts of his body, including his face and feet.
The police have since managed to arrest one person who is assisting with investigations.