ORANGE WALK TOWN, Tues. Mar. 15, 2016–An Orange Walk businessman is now with his family after he escaped from two armed kidnappers who held him up and ordered him to drive to an area in Douglas, a village on the Philip Goldson Highway, shortly after 12:15 Monday morning.
While the businessman was being taken away in his pickup, he managed to kick open the driver’s door while the vehicle was moving and he jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a cane field, where the kidnappers couldn’t see him.
The kidnappers, nevertheless, fired into the area, but the businessman was not hit.
The businessman had his cellphone on him, and called his family, telling them what had happened, and that he was hiding in an unknown area from the kidnappers. The family then called police.
Police went to the area and found the pickup, which the bandits had abandoned, and the man was found about 600 yards from the location of the vehicle.
The businessman’s identity was not revealed in order to ensure his security, said police.
The businessman told police that the incident occurred at a speed bump on the Philip Goldson Highway in San Pablo. He was coming from San Joaquin, Corozal District, after dropping off workers in that village, and was going to Orange Walk Town, when, on his arrival at a speed bump on the road in San Pablo, which is about 8 miles from Orange Walk Town, a man unknown to him jumped into the pan of his pickup as he slowed down for the bump, while another man who was standing on the side of the road pointed a gun on him.
Fearing for his life, he stopped and was ordered to turn around and drive into Douglas. The businessman complied with the order, but managed to exit his vehicle and escape into the cane field.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Selwyn Tillett reported that they were alerted about a kidnapping at around 12:30 Monday morning, and they immediately organized a search party and began searching the area between San Roman and San Jose villages in Orange Walk District.
It was during the search, police said, that they found a pickup parked on the side of the road, and a further search led to the businessman, who was hiding in the cane field on a farm located about 600 yards from where the vehicle was found.