LADYVILLE, Belize District, Fri. July 24, 2020– Three workers of the Bowen and Bowen company at Ladyville were held up at gunpoint by two masked bandits at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon in the company’s office.
The thieves tied up the three workers and took an undisclosed amount of money.
However, as the robbers were about to escape, an armed security guard who was on duty entered the office and saw the robbers, and he pointed his gun at them and ordered them to get out of the office.
The robbers exited the office, but while they were doing so, one of them pounced on the security guard, who fired three shots. Nonetheless, they overpowered him, beat him and stole his gun. The robbers then escaped, without the money, but with the firearm from the security guard, who luckily, was not killed.
Police said that they were told of a robbery in progress at the Bowen company office and went to the office, but the robbers had already escaped. They then searched the area and, in continuing their search, went to Marage Road, where they saw a man in a yard, wearing boxer shorts. He was seen with a gunshot wound in his leg. He was arrested and taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted in a serious but stable condition, under police guard.
The man has been identified as Tevin Abraham, 23, of Belize City, who is well-known to police. They are now looking for the second robber.
Deasry Villanueva, a sales clerk at the Bowen company office, told police that at about 4:20 p.m., she was along with two other workers, Tyreque Palacio, a supervisor, and Karl Watson, a warehouse assistant, when two men who were wearing masks entered the office and one of them, who was wearing a Bowen and Bowen company uniform, pointed a gun at her and demanded all the money.
The second robber immediately ordered Watson and Palacio onto the floor and tied their hands behind their backs with plastic straps.
Fearing for her life, Villanueva opened the safe and handed over an undisclosed amount of money. The robber then put the money in a bag which they had brought with them.
One of the robbers then tied Villanueva’s hands with a plastic strap, and it was at that point that the security guard, Clive Witty, came into the office, pointed his gun at the two robbers and ordered them to get out of the office.
As they were going out of the office, with Witty walking behind them, one of them quickly jumped on Witty and they struggled with him to disarm him, and during the struggle, he shot one of them, but they were able to disarm him and they ran away with his gun.
Police said that they found a .22 pistol on the scene, which is believed to have been brought by the robbers.