A man who was dressed like a cane cutter and carrying a cutlass yesterday walked into a Western Union outlet at Matadeen’s business premises at Sheet Anchor, East Canje and robbed two employees of approximately $650,000.
A clerk at the Western Union outlet who requested anonymity said that the man walked in calmly and without a word took out a cutlass and broke the 2ft by 2ft glass window above the counter before climbing into the employees’ quarters and dragging out one of the two employees who were hiding beneath the counter. He then demanded, “Wey de money dey?, wey de money dey?”
The pregnant and traumatized woman said that she opened the cash drawer and the man helped himself by stuffing the money into the haversack he was carrying. He then climbed out through the same broken window and ran to a clothing store adjacent to the outlet, but he didn’t remain there long.
The sales representative of the clothing store said that she saw a slim man looking like a cane harvester and shading himself with an old umbrella walk in but thought nothing of it. However, the pregnant woman said that she became suspicious when she saw the man’s face was “tied with an old piece of cloth an he look like he had on plenty clothes fuh change off.” She said that after the man went inside, a few minutes later she heard the crashing of glass and got scared and ran up the public road and stood in front of a popular doctor’s residence. The woman said she saw the bandit enter the clothing store but he exited quickly. He then calmly walked to the side of the building and escaped.
The owner of the store Mr Matadeen said that the robbery will be a setback since not much revenue is earned because Sheet Anchor is a slow business area. The robbery is a “devastating blow especially to the staff…it will take some time to overcome it.”
At the time of the robbery the business did not have a security guard. Meanwhile, the police who arrived promptly are continuing investigations.