At the peak of the lunch hour and on the busiest street in the city – 2 young men committed an armed robbery this afternoon. It happened at around 12:30 at the Fashion Paradise Store on Albert Street which is just one building down from our studio. We spoke to one of the victims off camera.
Robbery Victim,
“I was just talking to my aunt and two guys walked in, they just pointed a gun from they got into the store and they grabbed me by my shirt, put the gun to my head, and just asked for the money and they just went and they told me to empty my pockets, I gave them what I had in my pocket and they went to the cash register and they took all the money from in there too.”
Keith Swift,
Did the guys have on masks?
Robbery Victim,
“No, they were just two guys, maybe 15 or 16 years old and they just had on regular t-shirts, shorts, and a hat and they looked like they were coming in to just buy something and they just ended up robbing us at gunpoint. I only saw one gun that was pointed towards my head.”
Keith Swift,
Are you surprised that this happened at this time, given that it is Albert Street and it is the lunch hour which is a busy time?
Robbery Victim,
“Very surprised. I just walked in just to tell her hello and I was going for lunch and it just happened so fast that I can’t even tell you.”
The robbers escaped with about $500.
And there was another armed robbery but this one happened on Friday night, yet still, police have not made any report of it. It’s a concerning case as the robbers reportedly made off with a security guard’s 9mm pistol. Reports are that an employee of a local security company was collecting weapons from off duty officers. He did so, remarkably, on a motorcycle. Seems it’s a regular practice on the same route, but on Friday around 7:00 pm two men were lying in wait when he passed the area at the junction of Ebony Street and Magazine Road. The two men jumped him but he put up a fight and in the exchange one of them, Jermaine Belgrave was shot in the leg. Still, they managed to steal the security guard’s nine millimeter pistol and a 12 gauge shotgun and ammunition.
Police have since recovered the shotgun, along with 12 gauge cartridges, and ammunition for a nine millimeter pistol. Elmore Neal and Jermaine Belgrave have been charged for robbery – but the 9 milimeter pistol is still missing.
