A bandit is now hospitalised with a broken leg after he attempted to flee from a bullet-riddled robbery on a supermarket located at Lot 57, Number 68 Village, Corentyne on Saturday evening.
He broke his leg after being pursued by one of the victims and an off-duty cop.
Stabroek News was told that the hospitalised bandit invaded the supermarket with four other attackers on Saturday around 8.30 pm.
A relative of the proprietors told Stabroek News that the men, who were all armed and masked, dealt a lash with a gun to a customer who was standing outside of the supermarket. The perpetrators were unaware that the customer who was leaving was actually an off duty policeman.
The men then ordered the off duty cop and the owner, Akash Persaud, 29, who was standing next to the customer, into the supermarket.
One of the bandits then began to discharge rounds in the supermarket, mostly at the cashier’s location, said the relative.
The cashier then ran upstairs and hid in a room. The woman noted that the cashier locked the main door on the stairs during her bid to run to safety.
“Them keep banging on the door and then the banging stop”.
According to information gathered, the cashier, another relative and her child were present upstairs hiding. Three men reportedly entered the upper flat while the other two stood guard over the owner and customers in the lower flat.
The men ransacked the entire upper flat, the relative noted.
Meanwhile, according to information gathered, the men after stealing several items then rushed out of the supermarket and headed to the Number 68 backlands.
However, the owner, Persaud and the off duty cop with his car chased after the perpetrators, who repeatedly fired shots in their direction. The relative noted that one bandit fell into a pothole and was captured by the men.
The perpetrators reportedly escaped with over $200,000 in cash and a quantity of phone cards.
Meanwhile, a police report noted that the father of the hospitalised bandit has since been detained by investigators. The report stated that camouflage clothing similar to that which was worn by some of the bandits during the robbery was found in his house. Some of the valuables stolen were also recovered from the hospitalized bandit.
