The police said yesterday that 12 people were held after the Linden Digicel Store and the Mackenzie Post Office were broken into and looted; suspects had items from the two offices in their possession.
According to a police press release, at about 23:35 hrs on Friday, ranks responded to a report of persons seen acting suspiciously at Republic Avenue, Mackenzie. They found that the Digicel outlet and the Post Office had been broken into. “Quick work by the police led to the arrest of eleven men and a woman and the recovery of a number of articles suspected to have been stolen from the two offices,” the release said.
The articles included one laptop and three desk top computers, two water dispensers, one wireless phone, one money counting machine, three flat screen television sets, one iPod, one digital scale, one microwave, cell phones, and cell phone chargers and batteries.
According to reports from Linden, the female looter was caught with a red Digicel chair in her possession. “When deh police hold she, he tell she keep hugging it till she reach deh station,” said an eyewitness.
It was while the town was in total darkness that the looting apparently took place.
At the Digicel outlet, the looters had pulled open the grilled doors of the store and smashed in the glass door through which they entered.
The store was emptied leaving only two office chairs, and smashed show cases. The three flat screen televisions which were on the wall were also ripped out.
At the time one security guard was on duty. He told Stabroek News that he had gone to turn on the standby generator after the power went out when the incident occured. “I de just come back when I hear blam! When I look I see a whole set ah people by the door,” the guard whose name was only given as Martin said. “Me, I just mek a dash. I run like hell fuh Banks side suh,” he said.
The conditions surrounding the breaching of the Mackenzie Post Office were sketchy. When this newspaper visited the scene one of the doors facing Republic Avenue was broken. The glass counter top was smashed in and there were broken elements and paper documents, most being GRA certificates littering the floor.
- The door of the Mackenzie Post Office
