At least seven motorcars were stolen while a few others were broken into and a few houses burglarised over the past few days in New Amsterdam, Berbice.
On Friday, Divisional Commander Assistant Commissioner Paul Langevine, DSM, told Guyana Times that he was unaware of several cars being stolen.
More alarming, is the fact that teenagers are being used to carry out these criminal acts. One of the perpetrators has been identified as a student who attends a special needs school in New Amsterdam.
There have been concerns over the police’s apparent slothfulness in responding to the reports and more so, there are no systems in place to prevent an occurrence.
One of the car owners reportedly caught a teenager in his car red-handed and gave him a good flogging but the police are now threatening to charge him with assault.
The motorcar belonging to Hikel that crashed into the utility pole
Another car owner reported that he woke up and found his car broken into. Upon checking, $12,000 was removed and the ignition wires had been cut which is evidence that the perpetrator was trying to steal the car.
One businessman, Jacob Hikel, recalled that he was injured when a teenager attacked him with an ice pick during a home invasion. His car was also stolen.
Hikel told Guyana Times that he heard footsteps in the house and thought it was a relative but in the wee hours of Friday morning, he heard his car engine start and as he looked through his bedroom window, he saw his car being driven out of the yard.
According to Hikel, he dashed out of the bedroom and went to the first floor where he was greeted by an open door. When he got outside, he was attacked by a teenager with an ice pick. The young man then jumped the fence and escaped.
Meanwhile, the grill work to one of the windows was cut at his Lot 63-64 Vrymens Ervin home. It appears as though someone jumped into the verandah and cut the grill to gain entry to the building.
The lock on the front door was also wrenched off. The perpetrators reportedly removed a computer and a music box along with alcoholic beverages and grocery from the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, as the car drove away, Hikel gave chase on foot for about 200 meters but eventually gave up.
The grill work to the window of Hikel’s house was cut with a nipper
“I see the car turn around and start coming towards me very fast and I had to jump into the corner to save myself,” he told Guyana Times.
Surveillance footage captured the car, PPP 7796, crashing into a utility pole. The pole broke and fell onto the vehicle but the occupants managed to escape unhurt with a number of items including a vacuum cleaner and a headphone as well as documents.
Meanwhile, several other persons have reported that their homes were burglarised – one such house is owned by Denise Brutus of Lot 72 Errol’s Ville.
According to Brutus, she woke up and found the back door open and her 55-inch flat screen television missing. An electronic tablet and three flash drives were also taken by the perpetrators.
She explained that several louvre panes were removed from a window to gain access into the building. The woman noted that on the following night, more louvre panes were removed from another window but the bandits could not gain entry due to the bars.
However, the bandits went to the upper flat where Merissa Brutus lives. She said she looked through her bedroom door and saw the front door rocking and got up and armed herself but the perpetrators aborted their attack.
In addition, on Monday last, Denise was having a conversation with a friend and based on the features of a 13-year-old boy, suspicions were raised. He was cornered and upon questioning, he admitted that he helped the others to take out the louvre panes but did not go in the house.
He was handed over to the police where $200,000 was allegedly found in his possession. He reportedly told investigators that he broke into the New Amsterdam Central Islamic Mosque at Main and King Streets, where he stole the money.
The window with the missing louvre panes
Imam of the Mosque, Mosses Haniff, told this publication that the place of worship was broken into and the contribution box was broken into and the contents are missing.
“I can’t say how much money was in it at the time because it was donations,” he explained.
Haniff said the matter was reported to the police and was surprised when this publication informed him that someone had confessed to taking the money to the police.
“The police have not gotten on to me and that was since Monday, they should have by now,” he said.
