Bandits over the weekend broke into the Agricola, East Bank Demerara home of local singers and music and film producers, Charmaine Blackman and Bonny Alves and carted off two laptops which contain most of their professional work, some of which is yet to be released.
At the time of the incident, which occurred between late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning at the couple’s First Street, Agricola house,
Blackman and her husband had ventured to the mining town of Linden for the Calypso competition semi-finals.
The thief or thieves gained entry to the house after breaking open a window located in the bathroom area. They carted off two Acer laptops with movies and music, some of which are not yet released.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, Alves related that he received a call from his nephew around 7 am on Sunday informing him that his home was broken into. As a result, he said he immediately travelled to Georgetown and upon checking he noticed that his house was ransacked and the laptops were missing.
He described the situation as quite unfortunate, while noting that Mashramani is fast approaching. “It’s a big loss right now especially because Mash is around the corner and we have some work to complete,” Alves said. Luckily, he said they have backup to some of the items that were stored in the computers.
When questioned as to why he thought the bandits only took the two laptops, Alves noted that burglaries have been ongoing recently in his community. “We are not the only ones. I have heard that there are youths in the area who have been breaking into houses around the area and stealing laptops,” he said.
A report was made to the police who have since launched an investigation into the matter. Up to yesterday afternoon no arrests had been made.
Blackman and Alves are seeking the assistance of the public as they hope to retrieve the stolen laptops.
Alves said he has been residing in community for more than 50 years and the incident was the first such he has experienced.
