An elderly security guard was pummelled by two robbers at his worksite in Stanleytown, New Amsterdam on Thursday night.
The brutal attack on Fredrick Minty, 78, of Cumberland, East Canje, Berbice, has left him hospitalized with three broken ribs in addition to a swollen face, that is black and blue, and various bruises to his hands and feet. He is now a stable patient in the Male Surgical Unit of the Georgetown Hospital, where he was transferred from the New Amsterdam Hospital.
The robbers escaped with Minty’s phone, bicycle and other possessions. They are still on the run as police continue their investigation.
The attack occurred at around 8pm at the compound that formerly housed the Nabi Nail factory on the Waterside of Stanleytown, New Amsterdam.
According to Yonette Minty, just before, her father said he had warded off the two men responsible.
“…He said two strapping guys came in the compound and he chased them out,” she said. However, “when he go and sit back, he felt something lash he… he said like them man came around from the back and start beating him,”
Her father told her they used a piece of wood to beat him mercilessly. “He said they take the wood and hit him in his rib [cage] and punch him in his face and head,” she recounted, while adding that sometime after her father unable to bear the torture and he collapsed on the ground at the site, where he remained until he was found by a friend on Friday morning between 6am and 6:30am.
It is suspected that the attackers wanted to rob the facility. Although Minty’s family said the facility does not have anything to lose, H. Nauth and Sons Construction has been using the facility as a holding site for materials, this newspaper was told.
Minty has been working at the site for the past 10 years as a security guard and he was solely responsible for the evening shift. Members of his family described him as a very strong and healthy person. His son, Ezra Minty stated that his father would ride to work every day.
Transfer difficulties
Meanwhile, Minty’s sister Jennifer Yarde said his transfer to the Georgetown Hospital was affected by a number of difficulties.
According to Yarde, the ambulance had to make three trips before it picked up her brother. And even when Minty was placed in the vehicle and fitted with an oxygen mask, there was complication with the oxygen tank. “When they do put him in the ambulance the oxygen tank explode,” she said, while adding that this left the man’s family members confused about how he would transported.
Yarde explained they went around the ambulance to see what was happening, but the hospital CEO Allan Johnson repeatedly told them “to remove from the ambulance…” She added that their attempts to find out what would be done yielded no answers until they saw a porter going into the ambulance and taping the oxygen tank with what looked like a plaster. However, after the patching up was done the tank “exploded” again.
As a result, Yarde said, a nurse finally fitted another mask on her brother and started to pump the air manually. Although they remained worried about what could have happened along the way given the distance from New Amsterdam to Georgetown, she said the nurse assured that “everything would be okay… my brother meet safe.” The woman said she was grateful for the nurse’s assistance.
