A YOUNG man was arrested yesterday morning by police shortly after he had robbed a woman in Queenstown, Georgetown, and she raised an alarm.Three security guards from the company exited the premises and chased after the man, who raced through an alleyway where some contract workers were clearing a drain.

Members of the public assisted police in arresting the suspect yesterday

As the man ran past the workers, the guards opened fire but missed hitting the bandit. However, the man, sensing that he was in danger of being shot, halted and surrendered as the guards raced through the alleyway and grabbed him before taking him back to the alleyway entrance.

According to reports, the guards then gave him a sound beating, and one of them even took a spade from the sanitation workers and struck the man to the head, much to the annoyance of the sanitation workers, who were already enraged at the gunfire while workers were in the alleyway.

The security team then retreated to their workplace, leaving the bandit in the hands of the sanitation workers, who allowed him to escape before the police arrived, contending that he had suffered enough at the hands of the guards.

However, shortly after, the man had made it through the alleyway again, the police arrived and he was forced to seek refuge in a resident’s yard while the police searched in vain for him.

Subsequently, one person who had seen where the man had gone informed the police, who surrounded the yard and arrested him without any use of force. He was then taken to the police station.

Late yesterday afternoon, police sources confirmed that the bag with the items the man had snatched had been recovered, and he was also positively identified by the woman who had been robbed and injured.

Just last week, the police came in for high praise from members of the public in South Ruimveldt after responding promptly to a robbery report. Two bandits were killed in a shootout with the police in that incident.

President David Granger last week called on the police to seek to bring in criminals alive, so that additional information can be gleaned with regard to criminal enterprises.
By Leroy Smith