Popular maths teacher Dennis Patterson was on Monday evening a victim of an armed robbery. He was assaulted in his yard by two bandits who later escaped with his vehicle.
The vehicle, however, minus its wheels, mats and rear view mirrors, was subsequently found in Sophia by investigators.
Relating the details of the incident, Patterson told Stabroek News that he had arrived at his 283 Forshaw Street residence around midnight and exited his vehicle to open the gate to drive into his yard when he was approached by a strange man.
“As soon as I touched the gate, I saw this man walking at the side of the road and he started shouting at me not to move. I didn’t pay him any mind because I’m a teacher and a lot of people know me, so I thought it was just somebody playing a prank on me or something,” Patterson said.
“But as I proceeded to open the gate, the boy shouted at me again not to move and started cussing up; it was then I saw him pull out a gun and forced me behind the gate and made me go down on my knees”, the teacher added.
Not long after he was accosted by the gun-toting bandit, Patterson said he saw a second man appear out of nowhere from behind and held him in a “vice”, while demanding money and keys to his vehicle.
“He held me in a vice and put his hand over my mouth to stop me from making any noise and so I started stamping up. After he loosed me, he asked where the money and car keys were and I told him the keys were in the vehicle,” the man related.
The traumatized teacher further explained that when the bandits confirmed that the keys were in the car, they kept the gun pointed at him as though they were going to shoot him.
With the fear of being shot, Patterson said he lay on the ground until the men drove away in his car, after which he used a neighbour’s phone to call the police, who sent a patrol to the area, some 30 minutes after the call was made.
According to the teacher, apart from having stolen his car, the bandits also carted off $120,000 in cash that was in an envelope in his car.
And though he was able to locate his car the following day, the wheels, rear view mirrors and the mats had already been removed.
