Cops nab store robbery suspect who fled in owner’s car
(CNS) UPDATED: Police have confirmed that the suspect arrested yesterday following a stick-up at a grocery store in Bodden Town has also been arrested on suspicion of the robbery at Mr Arthur’s store in George Town on Tuesday morning. The 25-year-old was rounded up on Wednesday after he tried to flee in the store owner’s car in the wake of the BT stick up but then crashed it. The fourth armed robbery in just two days on Grand Cayman happened around 3pm Wednesday afternoon at the Lookout grocery store on Anton Bodden Drive.
The report was made to police as the man was holding up the store with what appeared to be a firearm. He took cash and a cell phone from the store owner before stealing his gold Ford Explorer to escape.
Armed and uniform officers from the eastern districts responded, along with the police helicopter, which was first on the scene and helped officers on the ground catch up with the fleeing suspect. The police signaled for him to stop using emergency lights and siren but he did not do so.
The officers pursued him to Breakers, where he crashed the stolen car. Police said the suspect was not injured and was arrested at the scene on suspicion of robbery. An adapted flare gun was recovered. He was taken to the Fairbanks Detention Centre, where the Bodden Town man was booked into custody.
“This quick and well-coordinated response by officers has resulted in an arrest, which will hopefully help allay some of the public’s fears after the robberies yesterday,” said Robert Graham, Superintendent of Uniform Operations. “As demonstrated this afternoon, we are working diligently to disrupt criminal activity and ask the community for all of the assistance it can give us.”
Anyone with information about the robberies this week is asked to call George Town Police Station at 949-4222. Anonymous tips can be provided directly to the RCIPS Confidential Tip Line at 949-7777, the Miami-based call centre of Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS), or online here.
