Gunmen on Sunday assaulted a 65-year-old taxi driver, after which they carted off a Toyota Premio which he hired to operate as a taxi and some of his possessions at Kitty Public Road, Georgetown.
Reports are that the incident occurred around 12:45h on Sunday, just as Percey Busey, a driver attached to Eddy’s Taxi Service, had arrived in Kitty in the car bearing registration PRR 3295, to pick up a passenger.
Busey, in an interview with Guyana Times, said that he was at the time reversing on the Kitty roadway while awaiting the arrival of his passenger when two men pounced on him. He said one of the men was carrying a gun.
The traumatised taxi driver went on to say that one of the men held a gun to his head and threatened to shoot him if he did not comply with their demands while the other opened the door and attempted to drag him out by his collar. Refusing to leave the car, Busey questioned the intentions of the hijackers, resulting in the gunman dealing him a blow to his mouth, using the handle of the weapon.
Eventually, the driver surrendered and exited the car. However, after gaining access to the vehicle, the duo then insisted that he get into the back seat, but he managed to escape leaving his possessions behind. It was then that the hijackers drove off with the car.
Following the incident, a report was made to the Police.
This report comes just weeks after the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had issued an official warning, calling on drivers, especially those operating taxis in the capital city, to be on the lookout for carjackers.
In the advisory, the GPF urged that all taxi drivers, especially those operating Toyota Allion and Toyota Premio motor cars, to “be on the alert for potential hijackers”. It was further disclosed that the attackers have been hiring cabs in Georgetown under the pretext of wanting transportation and “upon arrival at their requested locations, the drivers are robbed of their personal belongings as well as their motor cars,” the statement noted.
Just last month, another elderly taxi driver was relieved of his silver Toyota Premio and a quantity of cash in a similar manner.
This publication previously reported that after hiring a car at Robb Street, Georgetown, an unidentified young woman lured the taxi driver into a trap, where he was greeted at their destination with a man carrying a gun.
Walter Sanmoogan, 60, of Lot 157 Section B Nonpareil, East Coast Demerara, left with a passenger sometime after 16:00h and upon arrival in D’Urban Backlands, he was stripped of his possessions and forced to abandon his car. Sanmoogan’s vehicle is yet to be retrieved.