It was never reported by police but there was an armed robbery in Punta Gorda on Tuesday night. In fact it is the second robbery by masked men armed with high powered weapons in PG in as many weeks. Tuesday night’s hold-up is news tonight because it was foiled by BDF soldiers. Thing is, the soldiers weren’t in their army fatigues or armed with M16s. They fought off armed gunmen with their bare hands. How did they do it? We went to PG today to find out and Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The central park here in Punta Gorda Town is normally safe – its calm and for the most part crime free. But all that changed on Tuesday night. It was about a quarter to eight when three men wearing masks – one armed with a ak-47, another with a shotgun, and a third with a machete attempted to pull off an armed robbery. Their target was this Chinese owned grocery store – Ja Wong – which is located on Main Street.
Insp. Andres Makin, Deputy O.C. – Toledo
“Three male persons had entered the store, all armed with firearms and demanded cash – after which they accessed the cash pan, they took some cash, the amount at this time is not ascertained, and likewise they took phone cards and then they took off.”
But they didn’t get far because BDF Captain John Cuhna along with 6 other soldiers were in the area at the time. They responded to cries for help but Captain Cuhna and his soldiers were walking just like they were today – unarmed - while the robbers were armed with an ak47 and a shotgun.
Captain Ian (John) Cuhna, BDF
“I tried to organize my men as best as possible because we did not have any type of firearm, any at all. I told them to pick up something they could defend themselves with, be it a stick or stone or whatever, and to get behind cover. I was manoeuvring them, being at a safe distance because of the fact that we were unarmed, and we continued to go from yard to yard, across many different streets, until we ended up successfully catching one of them, cornering that person in a yard which was basically an abandoned yard, high grass about three feet or so, and it was very dark. And at the time even when we encountered this person, we did not know if he had a weapon on him, be it a firearm or a knife or some type of backup weapon or anything. So we basically unarmed and through a struggle we successfully apprehended one of the men.”
They chased and captured one of the alleged robbers a short distance away in this yard. Captain Cuhna says that even though his soldiers were unarmed - and in civilian clothes – the soldier in them made them rush to help – which meant taking on armed gunmen with their bare hands.
Captain Ian (John) Cuhna,
“I wouldn’t say that we are heroes, I would just say we were at the right place at the right time. We do this type of stuff and we are trained to react at an instinct and we work in a professional manner, in a safe way but also even if we are out powered or we are under threat by people who have high powered firearms and stuff like that, even barehanded, if we are well coordinated and without fear, that we could overpower these people.”
Pvt. John Thomas, BDF Soldier
“Well you use your military tactics because you learn unarmed combat and those kinds of things. So we moved after those guys but we moved using covers as well. But you could know the guys were coward because if it was me, I would have fired a shot at the military vehicle first but they didn’t do that so you know they were cowards.”
Captain Ian (John) Cuhna,
“We were fully confident and knowing, having the training that we have and the amount of years that we have in the job, we were in command of the situation from the incept.
From our side we know we could coordinate our selves towards these people who had firearms without putting ourselves beyond a limit of danger we could control. If you have the ability and know you could do it and have confidence in yourself then you could try it. But like I said it is highly unlikely that you would be unless you’re part of an organized body like the police force or the BDF or something like that. So it is not advisable for the common citizen to try.”
Tuesday night’s robbery at Ja Wang was the second in the area in two weeks and it has Melonie Parham, who runs a restaurant, and Frank Madrid who owns a cell phone store alarmed.
Melonie Parham, Restaurant Owner
“I am very concerned because we open only up to three o’clock and that happened over there at about eight o’clock. But to me these guys are working 24 hours a day so we have to be on the lookout and when they come around, you can’t say you don’t have anything to give them – you have to find something. So I am already prepared, if they come around I will give them what I have because my life is more valuable.”
Frank Madrid, Store Owner
“We are very concerned because the proximity and the calibre of weapons
those young boys are using, it is normal knives and nine milimeter guns anymore. We are afraid, we know they have intentions, especially with our business because cell phones have a high value in keeping cash and so forth. And the proximity, as you can see, is one block away.
But also give the guys a warning because if they come into my store, I will be honest, as you turn your back – I will fire; in my way of defense. It is young guys doing it and in our town we don’t have big crimes and so forth but however, the robberies seem to be fi we dilemma.”
A dilemma that’s on the back of PG’s Mayor Carlos Galvez.
Carlos Galvez, Mayor of Punta Gorda
“We’ve tried to organize and arrange what we call a citizen’s committee to see how we could look at these very very concerns at hand presently. So we took a proactive approach in dealing with it, however we’ve realized that we need to do much more and we try as much as possible to get the business community involved and other stakeholders to deal with the situation.
When things like this happen in a small community, it sends a negative feedback to the citizens so we will do all in our capacity to ensure that we do our fair share as the Town Council.”
And that has to be as soon as possible – since Captain Cuhna and his men probably won’t be at the right place and at the right time – the next time.
The suspect the soldiers detained is 18 year old Darren Sambula. He has been charged with robbery, aggravated assault, and keeping an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
