(Trinidad Guardian) – Veteran calypsonian Denyse Plummer was attacked by a gang of pickpockets after leaving a bar on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, early Satur-day morning. While Plummer, who won the Calypso Monarch crown in 2001 with her hits, “Heroes” and “Nah Leaving”, was not injured in the incident, she was robbed of her $4,000 iPhone. “It could have been worse. I could have had a knife in my stomach,” Plummer said in a brief telephone interview on Sunday.
She said shortly after 3 am, she left a bar with her best friend and was walking to her car when she was greeted by a group of four women. “They ran towards me, jumped on me and started to hug me. I thought they were just excited fans,” Plummer said. She said her cigarette lighter fell out of her handbag and when she bent down to pick it up, one of the women stuck her hand in the bag and stole the cellphone. “When I realised what was going on, I started to oppose them and asked them to give me back my phone,” Plummer said. She said the women ignored her pleas and got into a white car parked at the side of the road and drove off. Plummer reported the incident to the police. She said while she had got over the incident, she was still upset since the phone was a gift from her children. Plummer warned other visitors to the popular liming hot spot to be vigilant when leaving bars and clubs.
In 2011, Plummer, 60, of Haleland Park, Maraval, was awarded the Hum-mingbird Medal (Gold) for her contribution to culture in T&T. Police sources said investigators were reviewing CCTV footage from cameras at businesses where Plummer was robbed. A police source said there have been several reports of other limers being robbed by the same gang in the past few months. “We are paying close attention to this group of women. They seem very unassuming but they are indeed very dangerous,” the source said. Mean-while, police are continuing investigations into the carjacking of another veteran calypsonian, Shadow, which took place on December 29, last year. Shadow, whose real name is Winston Bailey, was parked in front of his Mt Hope home when he was robbed at gunpoint of his Toyota Rav 4 SUV. The vehicle had not been recovered up to Sunday.