Photo: Eliss Arkliss, shooting victim
by Charles Gladden
MILE 12, Philip Goldson Highway, Mon. Aug. 21, 2023
Late on Friday evening, August 18, employees of Grace Kennedy who had been making deliveries were ambushed near Mile 12 on the Philip Goldson Highway by a group of robbers who injured the driver of the truck.
According to initial police reports, at around 5:35 p.m. on Friday, Eliss Arkliss, a driver for Grace Kennedy and resident of Orange Walk, was driving the company’s cargo truck along the highway en route to Belize City, after delivering products in Hattieville, along with his two sidemen. On approaching Mile 12, they saw a man exit from the front passenger side of a white car that was parked on the right of the highway, and that man began firing gunshots, which prompted Arkliss to swerve to the left, and as a result the truck landed in a ditch.
The robbers then proceeded to the crash site of the cargo truck and fired a single shot at Arkliss, which wounded him. In fear, his two sidemen escaped from the truck and ran into some nearby bushes unharmed.
The robbers then entered and searched the truck, stealing a black knapsack containing personal items, then they drove off. However, police intercepted the getaway vehicle on the John Smith Road.
The three robbers then fled from the vehicle and dashed into the nearby bushes. Police searched the immediate area, but did not find them. The stolen knapsack, however, was found inside of the getaway car.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero, OC of the Belize Police Department’s Eastern Division, told local reporters that the identity of the men is still unknown at this time. However, he highlighted that they were able to ascertain the owner of the vehicle, as it had been reported stolen a week before the crime was committed.
When asked by reporters about the failure of the officers to find the suspects after they fled from their car, Romero explained that the men spotted the police approaching them from afar, and ditched the car and headed to a nearby swampy area.
According to ACP Romero, police were posted in the area until midnight and had been conducting searches and checkpoints.
Arkliss was transported to the Belize Medical Associates for medical treatment and is in a stable condition.