On Tuesday we told you how an armed assailant broke into senior counsel, and sometime judge, Simeon Sampson's home, tied him up, and robbed him in the middle of the night. If you thought that attack was shocking then we wonder how you would classify a broad-daylight home invasion and attempted robbery of Miss Viola Myles. That's right, yesterday the witty and lucid centenarian who is a former Miss Y almost became the latest robbery victim when three teenagers barged into her house with a gun. Here's the story.
Keith Swift Reporting, Email - [keithkswift@gmail.com]
She is 102 years old but Viola Myles became just another target of street criminals who invaded her West Street home yesterday afternoon. Myles told us that just before 2 pm she was inside her home when three teenaged boys wearing masks and holding handkerchiefs over their mouths entered her house. At least one of them was armed with a gun.
Viola Myles, Victim of Home Invasion
"I was sitting on the bed and then I caught a glimpse of something and somebody's face. I thought it was someone of the boys from down there playing with me. I couldn't think it was something like that. Anyway if she (Anselma) wasn't here, I don't know what would have happened. I don't want to kill anybody because I want to go to heaven and I don't want to be a murderer. But if they fool with me I will do it and beg the Lord pardon."
But on this day Miss Myles didn't need a higher power because she had her 77-year-old goddaughter Anselma Christiana. Christiana, herself a senior citizen, single-handedly fought off the attackers.
Antim of Home Invasion
"I was by the door talking to my
godmother and we were making arrangements to get everything cleared off so I could do some painting and as I turned my head I saw these three masked men standing right here; two over here and one over there. The one with the gun pointed the gun at me and I was by the door so I just looked at him and I asked him what he wanted. He said he wants what was on the bed. So I backed up and I didn't make any kind of noise or act like I was frightened, I wasn't frightened to be honest with you, and I backed up and he followed me. The mistake he made was he put the gun in the other hand and pushed his hand to get into the door and I saw an opportunity and I pushed the door against his hand and I held it there. And I had half a bottle of a Lighthouse Beer and I threw it in his face. Then the others saw that I was going to attack him and so they took off and ran and he jumped over the rail and over towards the street and ran away."
Keith Swift,
So they were inside the house?
Anselma Christiana,
"They were inside house and they wanted to get into the bedroom."
But instead of the bedroom, the thieves made a quick exit leaving their gun behind. Miss Myles' West Street home is being renovated and she believes that may have been what tempted her attackers.
And if you are wondering where she was during the home invasion, well she was comfortably a few feet away in the bedroom and having lived past a hundred years she didn't bat an eyelash.
Viola Myles,
"I wasn't frightened. I couldn't see them but I heard the conversation with her because I was to the back and then I saw her push the door and I wasn't frightened. So now after they run and gaan, one stumbled over the stool which was in the way and they went about their business. I said, 'look at what Belize come to.'"
Indeed, here you have two senior citizens attacked inside their home in the middle of the afternoon. It's shocking to Viola Myles who says that while the thieves may have wanted her purse, these "scoundrels" as she calls them will never get away with her sense of security.
Keith Swift,
You don't seem afraid?
Viola Myles,
"Never. I went down to lock my gate at 6pm and I came right up and I sat on the bed and I said, 'God you are alive,' and I changed my clothes and I said my prayer."
Keith Swift,
At any point did you think these boys would have used the gun?
Anselma Christiana,
"They would have used it. I am almost certain they would have used it. What happened is that if I had reacted differently and make a big noise or whatever, they would have pulled that gun and one of us would have been hurt. My godmother, at her age, I don't think she could have taken it and I wouldn't have liked that. But when I saw the opportunity I grasped it and I squeezed his hand against the door. And if the door was stronger I would have broken his wrist."
Viola Myles,
"I am happy and I am glad because probably I don't think they would have come if she wasn't here."
Keith Swift,
What would you say to these young men who tried to rob you?
Viola Myles,
"I would tell them to shun the wrong and do the right and the Lord, God of heaven, will surely make the way for them and they wouldn't be what they are: scoundrels around the place annoying other people. That is all they want to do, annoy your peace. You have your good peace and they come now to disturb it. I wasn't scared."
And if what they endured wasn't enough, Myles and her goddaughter told us that even after taking statements from them at the house, police investigators wanted them to go to the police station to make a report. Myles has flatly refused to do so. While one of the robbers did drop the gun in a neighbor's yard while escaping, they later returned to claim it.
A police press release expressed the Commissioner's "dismay" at the incident and promised an arrest. But up to newstime the three attackers were still on the loose. When, or if, they are caught the youths will face charges of attempted robbery and aggravated burglary.