Charge dismissed against soldier who robbed teen with toy gun

Cidel Frank, a 22-year-old serving member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), was on Wednesday charged in connection with the armed robbery committed on a 17-year-old girl of Unity, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on April 19.

Frank, of Good Hope, Mahaica, was arrested shortly after the teen was robbed of one ZTE cell phone valued $40,000 and one Samsung Galaxy cell phone valued $130,000, at around 19:50h.
The GDF rank appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge.
However, the virtual complaint decided not to give evidence against the suspect, and, as such, the matter was dismissed.
Reports are that the teenager, who is a salesgirl, and her friend were heading home on a bicycle when they noticed three males on the road fixing their bicycles.
As they approached the group, one of the males grabbed the victim’s bicycle and demanded her belongings. He then took out her cellular phones from her bag while the other two perpetrators went to her friend and began to search him, but found nothing.
A scuffle ensued between the two suspects and the victim’s friend, during which one of the suspects struck him to the head with a toy gun, which broke after the blow.
The three suspects then made good their escape, but the matter was reported and, during checks of the area, pieces of the toy gun were found.