Nineteen year old Jorett Jones is lucky to be alive. Around eight on Saturday night Jones had just gotten off a bus at the corner of the Western Highway and Vernon Street when two armed men wearing stocking masks held him up. According to Jones one of the men then pulled out a black firearm and placed it to his stomach but he managed to push it away and ran as fast as he could. Wishing to appear off camera, he told Jacqueline Godwin how he got away.
Jacqueline Godwin,
What made you react so quickly?
Jorett Jones,
“Well everything happened so fast and it was the first time I was in that position so I think it was reflex and the first thing I had to do was save my life so that is about it.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Do you believe if you did not knock away this firearm they would have shot you?
Jorett Jones,
“Definitely yes because they surrounded me and he put the gun right above my navel so I felt that I had to so something. But I wouldn’t advise anyone to do that if that is the situation they are in.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
After you knocked the firearm out of this young man’s hand what happened next?
Jorett Jones,
“Well I didn’t even look back, I just started to run for my life. And little before I was walking up towards Vernon Street and I saw a police trooper and I didn’t know the guys would have still been in the area but while I was running I saw them so I went straight to the police and reported it immediately and they had a good reaction. They reacted quick.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Did they manage to take anything away from you?
Jorett Jones,
“No, I think they found my cell phone though cause that was the first thing that fell from me. I realized I lost my cell phone when I tried to call my parents when we caught the first guy on Cemetery Road when we apprehended him.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What would you want to see happen to this young man?
Jorett Jones,
“I just want justice because I am not somebody who is on the street and into violence or crime, I always advise people to not put themselves in those situations. So I just want justice.”
Moving quickly, the police went around the corner and apprehended this man, twenty eight year old security guard Richard Smith. According to police as they approached the duo who were on separate bicycles one managed to get away but Richard Smith who was identified as the gunman was caught with a 38 revolver. Today Smith was taken over to Magistrate’s Court where he was arraigned on the charges of aggravated assault, keeping an unlicensed firearm, and keeping unlicensed ammunition.
In court it was revealed that on the night Richard Smith was captured, he was approached by police officer Roberto Ordonez who pointed his service revolver at Smith, forcing him to push his hand into his pocket, pull out the gun and drop it to the ground. Police also found five rounds and the black stocking that he used to conceal his face during the hold-up. Richard Smith was denied bail and remanded to Hattieville Prison until June twenty sixth.
