Most recent hold up Saturday in Oracabessa
A supermarket in Oracabessa was held up and robbed of about $70,000 Saturday night, April 5, bringing to three the number of Chinese operated supermarkets held up and robbed in the last three weeks in St Mary. The supermarket at a small plaza, on the Oracabessa main road was held up Saturday evening by three men, at least one of whom had a gun. The men took cash and phone cards and escaped in a waiting vehicle. The modus operandi of the hold up and robbery, Saturday night, was similar to the other two, one in Stewart Town and the other in Tower Isle, all in western St Mary. The robbery at Oracabbesa occurred three days after another daylight hold up and robbery in a recently opened supermarket at Stewart Town. In that incident, police have put, also at $70,000 the value of goods and cash stolen from that supermarket on Stewart Town main road, last week April 2. However, other reports put the amount at well over $120,000. It included cash, a case of Appleton Rum, cigarettes and phone cards. Reports are that three men went into the supermarket pretending to be shopping. One of the men approached one of the Chinese merchants, touched her and asked for money. She appeared not to understand and he became involved in a tussle with her. He shoved her to the ground and poured a drink on her. One of the men pulled a gun and went over to the cashier and demanded money and proceeded to empty the cash register. They also took a case of rum from behind the counter and took several phone cards. Police said no one was wounded during the robbery. The men fled, in the direction of Ocho Rios, in a car that had been parked outside the supermarket. Eyewitnesses said the three were in late teen or early 20s.
TOWER ISLE ROBBERY
The Stewart Town robbery marked the second in three weeks by gunmen at a Chinese operated supermarket in west St Mary. Three weeks ago, three men made off with more than $200,000 in cash and phone cards as well as equipment from June Supermarket, at Tower Glade near Tower Isle, St Mary. That’s about six kilometers from where last Wednesday’s robbery took place, involving three men. In the Tower Glade robbery, a gun was also brought into play by the men who had entered the store and pretended to have been shopping. Sources say the men appeared to have inside knowledge of the operations and that they even went into the living quarters removing electronic and small items after cleaning out the cash register. They also removed the hard drive to a computer that operated a CCTV system. Police superintendent in St Mary Dean Johnson said police were concerned about the number of robberies in the area between Oracabessa and Ocho Rios, in St Ann and the police in the two parishes were working together. Several businesses and households have been held up and robbed of cash, jewellery and electronics, including television sets.
The police are appealing to members of the public who can assist them with their investigations to contact the St Mary divisional command centre at 994-2452, Police’s 119 emergency, Crime Stop at 311 or the nearest police station.
