A 47-year-old American woman reported being assaulted by a masked intruder at her business. It happened at "Bow Wow Meow", in Caye Caulker on Tuesday afternoon.
Rachel Randall was at her pet supply store at around 1:30 p.m. when an intruder entered and pepper sprayed her. We spoke via phone with Randall who says she now fears her safety:
Voice of: Rachel Randall, Business Owner
"Yesterday, I was stocking the shelves of my shop. I usually sit facing the front door of my shop, which faces east, but instead I was facing south and I was stocking the shop shelves and I turned around and I just saw this person with a mask on his face and wearing all black. I wasn't really sure what was happening and it was taking me a second to process it. I remember my brain, my only thought was why is there this ninja in my store? As soon as I kind of made eye contact with him through the mask, I don't remember his eyes though, but as soon as that happened, he was just spraying something in my eyes immediately. He didn't say anything. He didn't do anything else. He didn't pay any attention to valuables that were close to him. He stepped over cash to get to me. And then he sprayed some kind of an aerosol spray can. I don't believe it was pepper spray. It smelled like chemical, like maybe it smelled like spray paint, but it wasn't spray paint because it didn't get any paint on me."
"And then I immediately just started screaming. I remember I wanted to hit him or fight or do something, but I couldn't see well enough to get anything that could hurt him. So I started screaming and then he just ran out of my shop and dove underneath the railing and he was gone."
Reporter
"Are you now concerned about your safety?"
Voice of: Rachel Randall, Business Owner
"Absolutely. I'm concerned for our community. This isn't something that typically happens on Caye Caulker. And I worry that if he was intending to rob me, he could target other businesses as well. And there are other vulnerable business owners on the island. And I don't feel safe on the island right now."
No arrest has been made.
