The third robber is in custody
BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 30, 2018– Two of three thieves were shot by police as they tried to escape after robbing a supervisor of Harpie Security Company.
The thieves had stolen two .38 Special Smith and Wesson revolvers and a handheld radio.
The two wounded robbers, minors, were taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where they are being treated under police supervision.
The two injured robbers are a 17-year old minor, of Maskall Street, Belize City, who was shot in the right leg; and a 16-year-old minor of an East Collet Canal address, who was shot in the right upper thigh.
The third robber, identified as Harry Montero, 23, an unemployed Antelope Street resident, was not wounded and is in police custody pending charges of possession of stolen goods, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and aggravated robbery.
The stolen guns and the radio were deposited as exhibits and will be used in the case against the thieves when they appear in court.
The incident occurred at about 6:30 Thursday evening at the Harpie Security Company office on Antelope Street, Belize City. Dion Gentle, 35, shift supervisor at the security company, said that at about 6:20 p.m. he had just entered the office when three men came up to him and one of them put a gun to his head.
Meanwhile, another bandit took away a bag he was carrying which contained the two .38 Special Smith and Wesson revolvers and the handheld radio, and they sprinted away.
During a police press brief held this morning at the Raccoon Street Police Station, DCP Chester Williams said that police who were on patrol in the area were informed of the robbery and went to the cemetery, which is about a block away from the crime scene. There they saw three men running into the cemetery with a bag, and they quickly ran after them.
During the chase, police fired at the fleeing men and hit two of them. A mobile vehicle was called and the injured robbers (the minors) were taken to the hospital, while Montero was taken, to the police station.
The mother of one of the injured minors said that her son was shot after he was subdued, then beaten.
DCP Chester Williams refuted the allegation and said that he was on the scene, and that the boys were shot while they were running away from police. He said that mothers should not tolerate and encourage their sons in criminal behavior.