A 32-year-old man was on Thursday remanded to prison for the armed robbery of a businesswoman and her friend at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara.

Kashief Peters, of Republic Park, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court for armed robbery and possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He denied that on October 11, at LBI, while being armed with a gun, he robbed Melanie Leung and Joanna DeOliveira of an iPhone valued $300,000, 75 grams of raw gold valued $750,000, $55,000 in cash and two handbags valued $20,000.

He also denied that on the same day, he had a Taurus .32 pistol, along with one .32 round of ammunition and six 9mm rounds in his possession when he was not a licensed firearm holder.

Magistrate George remanded Peters to prison until December 1.
According to reports, on the day in question, the victims were seated in a motorcar outside a boutique on the LBI Public Road after making a drop off at the Ogle Airport, when Peters approached, and pointing a gun at them, demanded that they hand over all their valuables.

After taking possession of the ‘booty’, Peters reportedly made good his escape in a silver Toyota Premio motorcar, which is how the police were able to track him down, using an app on the businesswoman’s stolen cellphone.

The car was spotted by a mobile patrol in the vicinity of Industry, a few miles from where the robbery took place, and eventually intercepted at Industry Crown Dam, after it collided with a parked van.

On realising that the game was up, Peters reportedly threw the firearm into a nearby drain and attempted to flee, but was not fast enough.
He was arrested, and the firearm retrieved, while a search of the vehicle yielded the stolen articles.