One of three fleeing bandits, who broke into the Survival Supermarket on Sheriff Street yesterday morning is now in police custody after security personnel confronted them and shots were fired.
At approximately 4:30am, three men broke into the supermarket, stealing an undisclosed amount of cash, food items and valuables, according to one of the owners of Survival supermarket, Parshuram Arjune.
A security guard who was at the scene at the time the bandits were inside the building said that after checking the compound, he thought that the intruders had already made good their escape. However, he said he waited around for an hour and then noticed three men on the third floor canopy.
The guard said he ran and alerted a friend who contacted his employer, summoning him back to the scene. It was when contracted security personnel arrived that the men on the third floor fired shots while attempting to escape. One of the intruders was apprehended and handed over to the police, who arrived one hour later.
Arjune, who arrived within ten minutes of a phone call about the break-in, said that he and security personnel searched the building, while they awaited the arrival of the police. The businessman said when the building was checked, he noticed that the armed bandits had gained entry to the compound by cutting a barbed wire fence on the south eastern end of premises. He said the men then used a fire escape stairway on the southern end and made their way to the third floor. Moreover, Arjune said after prizing through grill work and a glass door on the third floor, the bandits then moved to the second floor where they removed an undisclosed amount of money from an office.
He said when the men were attempting to leave, gunshots were exchanged between the security and another bandit, who escaped. “He ran through the street [Fifth Street, Campbellville.]”
One hour following the break-in, the businessman said that police ranks arrived on the scene and arrested the bandit. He added that police were also given video footage from surveillance cameras around the building. Arjune said that the hope is that the police will be able to apprehend the other two bandits, through the footage.
Two bags of food items and an undisclosed amount of cash were recovered at the scene.
When this newspaper enquired whether the businessman thought that the bandits might have gotten inside help, Arjune said that he did. He cited the efficiency of the bandits, who appeared to have known where they were going. However, he said, “We are waiting to see what the guy will tell the police”.
He expressed gratitude to the security guards at the supermarket at the time of the break-in, as well as for the fact that no one was hurt during the hail of gunfire between the bandits and security personnel.
