UK national mugged in broad daylight - Passers-by help nab one bandit Stabroek News October 11, 1999 One of two bandits who robbed a British national in North Street was, yesterday arrested by a group of public spirited citizens who prevented him from escaping with around US$800 in loot. The robbery victim, 31-year-old David Moore, was himself involved in the capture - chasing the bandits from where he was robbed outside the Hibiscus Craft Plaza to around City Hall where one of them was captured. Yesterday's robbery is the third such robbery for this week to have happened in the vicinity of Main Street, where Moore is a guest at the Tower Hotel. It follows on the heels of another committed on Tower guest, Filipino, Aguilar Salvodor, who was robbed of a wallet, US$300, a gold chain and two credit cards at the corner of Main and Holmes streets at around 10.15 am. Moore told Stabroek News yesterday that he had been making his way back to the hotel but detoured to St George's Cathedral. Moore said that it was while he was making his way along the deserted street to the church at about 9.15 am that he realised he was being followed by two men, one of them wearing a bright red shirt. Moore noted that before he could act, one of them walked up until he was at Moore's side about five metres off. The other quickened his steps until he was so close behind Moore that when he stopped his would-be bandit bumped into him. Moore said that at that point, both men started asking him for money, in the same way that a vagrant would. However, unlike regular vagrants, when Moore said he had no money and walked away, the man who had been behind him grabbed his neck in a choke-hold. Both men then quickly frisked him, taking away his wallet with the $800 and 2 credit cards as well as a calculator and took off up North Street. Moore, who admitted that fear had kept him still during the attack, said that he took after the men when he realised that they had gone with all of his money. Reasoning that if the men were armed, they would have used their weapons, he trailed them all along Avenue of the Republic, all the while begging them to return at least some of his money. As if to appease him, Moore said, one of the bandits tossed down his calculator and took off in a separate direction from his fleeing friend. Rather than pursue the now empty-handed bandit, Moore said that he kept behind the one with the wallet who ran to Robb Street by the vacant lot facing Demerara Mutual Life. Moore said the man jumped a wall on the lot but, faced with no where else to go, tried to hide in the nearby high grass although his red shirt made him easy to spot. By that time, a group of about thirty persons who had been drawn by the noise of the chase, converged on the area and dragged the bandit out of his hiding place. Moore said that these good Samaritans searched the grass and were also able to find his wallet which had apparently been dropped by the bandit. In an invited comment, Tower Hotel Receiver/Manager, Christopher Ram told Stabroek News that, while many in Guyana recognised the impact tourism could have on the economy, such a sector could only be developed when steps were taken to make the streets safe for visitors to the country. He noted that hotels along Main Street were plagued with thefts committed on guests and issued a call for the relevant authorities to take control of the streets. (Kester Morris) A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples