Downtown Albert Street was once again the scene of a brazen broad daylight armed robbery. At around 3 this afternoon, two young men, one of them brandishing a firearm held up Swami’s clothing store, which is just across from Doony’s - the scene of a robbery two weeks ago. In the case of Swami’s, two terrified young female employees were in the store at the time, one of them staring directly down the barrel of a gun. Too afraid to show her face on camera, one of the young women walked us through what according to her, was a quick in and out armed hold-up which lasted no more than a few minutes.
Store Clerk,
“Two persons came in to rob us. They held up the other workers, they held her up with the gun. They asked her for the key but we couldn’t find the key for him and so we were trying to pull open the draw, me and her pulling out the draw, and we couldn’t pull it out and the person was telling us to hurry open it up. We couldn’t find the key and after that we saw the hammer down below and he wrenched out the draw and I don’t think a lot of money was in there because we didn’t sell anything today. So I don’t know how much money he took. He held us up with the gun and said not to come outside and he went about his business. Two of them went down the street, I think they were walking.
It was quick and fast. Once somebody come to rob you, you give them what they want, don’t try to hesitate or nothing so we just were trying to find the key and couldn’t find the key and we tried to pull out the draw and couldn’t pull it out and he wrenched off the draw and they went about their business.”
The men made a quick exit taking with them the few dollars from the day’s cash receipts, and one of the clerk’s cell phones. According to the employees, the store has no security cameras installed. The police are said to be seeking the assistance of Doony’s to see if any of their cameras might have captured images of the two men. The young men were said to be unmasked and wearing normal clothing. We note that police are posted to the area but they were a non-factor and for whatever reason have repeatedly proved unable to effectively secure this single block in the heart of the city.
And Swami’s wasn’t the only store in the commercial center that was robbed at gunpoint. Last night there was a robbery at the Cosmetic Corner on Orange Street. The store’s owner Suresh Gurnani says that at around 9 pm two men entered with a.38 revolver.
He says they pointed it in his face and demanded money. They went on to steal $500 and fled. The store manager refused to comment today but says the entire robbery was caught on the security camera and the footage has been turned over to police. Police say they have detained an 18 year old from Taylor’s Alley – which is also off Orange Street.
And earlier on the day yesterday, also on Orange Street, Albert Hung, deliveryman for Lee Chee Wholesale was making a delivery at Sunshine Bar on Orange Street when they were approached by two men. One of them had a pistol and he robbed them of their cell phones and jewellery.
