Jensen LaVende
Two men who were carrying large sums of money to pay workers at construction sites were robbed in two separate incidents on Friday.
Police reported that a 51-year-old Venezuelan man was robbed of $94,000 at a construction site at North Hills, Cutucupano Road, Santa Cruz.
Around 2:07 pm, the victim, a payroll clerk with Home Solutions, was approached by two men, one armed with a gun, who demanded the workers’ wages.
After handing over the money, the man alerted a security officer on duty, who had a brief shoot-out with one of the men, while the second bandit ran off with the cash, which was to be used to pay about 70 workers.
The suspect, a Dominican Republic national, was subdued with the help of workers before being handed over to police.
Both the suspect and the victim were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex for medical attention.
About an hour later, a 46-year-old contractor was robbed of a grey knapsack containing $91,000 in cash, another $16,000 which he kept in the vehicle’s console, and his Samsung A54 cellphone valued at $2,500.
The man was on his way to pay workers at a job site at Beaumont Ridge, Maraval, when a silver Toyota Aqua pulled in front of his vehicle near St Andrew’s Private School.
Police reported that two masked men came out of the car, one armed with a gun, and asked the victim, “where de money”.
After taking the money, the masked men entered their vehicle and escaped.
Officers from Maraval Police Station later received information that the getaway car, bearing false registration plates PDZ5015, had been abandoned at Riverview Terrace, Maraval.
The emptied grey knapsack was found inside the car.
