A Kitty hardware store was yesterday robbed by three men and the now-traumatized owner was held at gunpoint and beaten.
Sixty-three-year-old Vick Saywack of Pike Street, Kitty, spoke to this newspaper about the incident. He said that the robbery occurred at minutes to eight in the morning. A man pulled up in a vehicle and exited with a blue gas cylinder. Saywack explained to the man that he had to open the grill of the shop to collect the cylinder, but as he was opening the grill, the man placed a gun to his temple. He was then told to lay face down on the floor, which he did.
Meanwhile, two other men entered and tied his hands and feet and placed tape over his mouth. He said that the three men then asked him where he kept the money, and he indicated to them the table containing the drawer where the shop’s money is kept. He said that he is unsure about how much money was in the drawer but the robbers, after checking, decided that it wasn’t enough.
Two of the men then went upstairs into his home but they soon returned and demanded that he tell them where the rest of his money was. He said that they seemed to have the impression that he had a large sum of money. After he told them there wasn’t any more, the man with the gun struck him on the head using the weapon. The other two meanwhile continued searching and found a bag which he would put money into. He also does not know the amount of money that was in the bag.
According to Saywack, during this time, someone arrived at the shop and was calling for him to attend to them. Unfortunately, he could not alert the person and as such, the three men walked out of the shop and past the person who was calling. After they left, he was able to get his hands loose but his feet were still bound. He somehow managed to get to the grill and the waiting customer was then alerted to the fact that it was a robbery. He said that the customer saw the licence plate number of the vehicle the men drove off in, but after the report was made to the police, he was informed by them that the number was registered to a government vehicle. It was assumed that the number was made up.
The shop owner said that the experience has left him traumatized and that he is now scared to operate his business. Further, his home was left in disarray and he is still unaware of how much money was taken. He also noticed that some jewellery was also taken during the robbery.
Saywack suffered a swollen face and bleeding caused by the impact of the blow he received. He told this newspaper that there had been a previous encounter like this but not as horrific. On that occasion, the bandit held him up with a knife while his shop was robbed. (Lazeena Yearwood)
