(Trinidad Guardian) Terror reigned at Massy Stores in St Ann’s on Sunday, as five bandits, one armed with a gun, stormed the supermarket beating one of five workers before leaving with an undisclosed sum of US and T&T currency.
The daring early morning robbery caused the supermarket to shut its doors for the entire day to allow the police to conduct their investigations and interview the victims.
The closure left several customers angry while some stopped to ask the lone security guard stationed at the front gate if the workers were okay following the traumatic experience.
Acting Senior Superintendent of the Port-of-Spain Division Lincoln Daly confirmed the robbery to Guardian Media during a telephone interview.
Daly said around 6.20 am the robbers, whose faces were covered, entered the compound of the supermarket in a white Tiida car and barged their way into the store. One security guard was on duty.
“It would appear that they timed it in a particular way to enter the premises … just around the time the employees would have been showing up for work and getting ready to open the business.”
On Sundays, the supermarket opens for business at 7 am and closes at 6 pm.
“One of the suspects was armed with a gun,” Daly said.
The bandits ordered five workers—three of whom were women—to lie on the ground where their hands were tied with duct tape.
Daly said one of the female workers was taken to a room where the vault is stored and ordered to open the safe.
“Based on the information we have, his employee was struck multiple times on the body and face,” he said.
Daly could not say if the employee was hit with the butt of the gun or with the bandits’ fists.
He said the assailants “took a sum of cash which was both T&T dollars and US currency.”
The senior officer could not quantify the sum involved.