Trio charged with robbing Rockstone businesswoman

Elijah Hollingsworth
Elijah Hollingsworth

The three men accused of last Friday’s armed robbery of a Rockstone businesswoman were yesterday remanded to prison.

The accused are Joel Morrison called ‘Jako’, 29 of Pike Street, Sophia, Dane Bowen, called ‘Dane Boy’, 25, of Blueberry Hill, Wismar, Linden and Elijah Hollingsworth, 25, of Blueberry Hill, Wismar, Linden, who were arraigned at a virtual hearing before Magistrate Wanda Fortune at the Linden Magistrate’s Court.

They were jointly charged with the offence of armed robbery committed on 57-year-old Dianne Ross.

Dane Bowen

They were not required to plead to the charge and were remanded until August 26, 2021.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) had reported that the attack occurred last Friday around 10 pm.

The report stated that the men held the businesswoman and her grandson at gunpoint at her grocery store, located at Rockstone/Mabura Access

Joel Morrison

Road.

The suspects, who were riding two XR motorcycles without number plates, had earlier visited the business.

According to the police, one of them, who was dressed in a grey hoodie and was known to the woman, went up to her and purchased a pack of cigarettes, two bottles of water and a can of Canada Dry ginger ale. He then went to his two accomplices, who were dressed in the dark hoodies and dark-coloured jerseys with their faces exposed. They then rolled a joint (ganja) and began smoking, the police said.

The suspects later rode off, heading in the direction of Mabura.

However, about 20 minutes later, the businesswoman heard her dogs barking continuously in the backyard, which is surrounded by thick vegetation. Her grandson armed himself with a cutlass and ventured outside into the dark and made checks. During his search, he was approached by one of the suspects, whom he knows from Kuru Kuru.

The police said that the suspect choked the woman’s grandson and pointed a handgun to his head, while the other two other suspects, whose faces were now tied with black jerseys, came out of the dark. They were both armed with handguns. They took him to the shop and told him not to make any noise as they barged in and confronted the owner, whom they told to lay down. The woman complied, the police said. The robbers then took the woman’s jewellery from her and went to her shop where her money was. The police said that the men took the money along with cellular phones that were left near the money.  These included a Samsung Note 5 cellular phone, valued $90,000, a BLU Smartphone valued $22,000, a Logic Smart phone valued $26,000, an iQoo phone valued $6,000, and a BLU cellular phone valued $20,000. They also stole three $500 GTT phone cards, a gold chain valued $150,000, a gold ring valued $60,000, and six gold studs, valued $30,000.

The men then ran out of the shop and made good their escape. They were later apprehended at Konawaruk Junction, Potaro-Siparuni.