Bandits rob construction workers at Annandale
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
March 30, 2003
Two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, attacked and robbed a group of workers in the Eastville Housing Scheme at Annandale, East Coast Demerara on Friday morning.
During the ordeal, one of the bandits pointed the gun at the head of a 16-year-old member of the work group while they frisked him. He also shot at another worker, but missed by a few inches. The young man had jumped out of the way and the bullet hit a concrete post instead.
Two of the victims who asked to remain anonymous - a 42-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew - told Stabroek News yesterday that four of them were filling an empty plot of land in the housing scheme at about 9:15 am, when they saw a group of men on the "dam" pointing at them. The "dam" they referred to is the strip of land that separates Buxton from Annandale.
"They were looking and pointing at us...[and] these men [the two bandits] came down from the bank [of the dam], passed us and then came back. One of them say, 'You come!' He was calling my stepson. So when he called my stepson, I went... being older than the rest... I had a pick-axe in my hand and he say, 'Don't come with duh. Drop it!' By that time, he had a gun that he took out from his waist," the 42-year-old man related.
The two bandits then commanded the other members of the group - the teenager, the man's stepson and a friend - to move forward and hand over their valuables.
"They demanded money and started searching our bags and pockets... They took away some money from me, about $3,200 and a walkman and $500 from my nephew," the older of the two stated. The bandits also stripped the man's stepson and friend of their cash and other property.
"[One of the bandits] was standing up far, holding the gun... he was like the boss. He telling the [other one], 'If you come close, de boys might snatch de gun.' He tell me move slowly and push me hand [in my pocket]. The [other] boy look like he didn't really know what going on, because he coming closer all the time and the [one with the gun] rowing with he all the time..." the teenager said.
"They put the gun to my head because they [were not] getting any money. We only had passage alone to go home... and everybody saying dey ain't got money... The [bandit] said, 'I would shoot this boy. I would shoot this boy' and my uncle say, 'Don't shoot he, duh is my nephew, look in meh pants deh and see if I got any change and tek it."
The victims said one bandit called the other 'Killer'. 'Killer', they said, was the one armed with the gun.
"[He] was saying, 'Killer, Killer... leh we search this one hey pants!'" It was at that time that one of the young men in the group tried to resist and was shot at.
"He [the worker] say it ain't make sense, because he ain't got nothing in he pants and [one of the bandits] say, 'If yuh get anything in this pants, I gon kill yuh'...[The other bandit] said, 'I would kill you here today' and he fired [but] the boy jumped out the way and the bullet hit a concrete post... about six or seven inches away," the young man reported.
Both victims said 'Killer' was boasting the entire time that he was often featured in the news.
"Ya'll know me? Ya'll know me? I does deh in de news. I does deh in de news. You don't read 'bout me in de newspapers?" they quoted the bandit as saying.
According to the duo, some persons who were working about four lots away, disappeared until after the robbery, then emerged laughing.
The men said they have not reported the matter to the police since they do not have faith that their names and addresses will remain confidential.
