Royal Cayman Islands Police officers said two men were tied up and a safe emptied during a robbery early Monday at the Ramada Grand Caymanian Beach Resort.
According to initial reports, two armed suspects robbed a safe at the SaveHaven area hotel around 2am Monday.
No shots were fired and hotel staff confirmed no one had been injured.
Police provided no information immediately about the crime scene, though they later confirmed a robbery had occurred in the following statement:
“About 1.30 a.m. (Monday) morning two members of staff were within an office at the Ramada Grand Caymanian when they were suddenly confronted by two masked men armed with what appeared to be handguns.
“The suspects tied the men up and left them locked within the office. The suspects then entered another room which contained a safe.
“Around two hours later one of the men managed to free himself and raise the alarm. It was then discovered that the suspects had forced open the safe and fled the scene with a sum of cash.”
The hotel’s general manager also declined to comment when contacted by the Compass.
The first suspect was described as dark complected, 5’6” and heavyset. He was wearing a black t-shirt, dark blue faded jeans and black and white sneakers. He had a black ski mask covering his face, according to witnesses. The second suspect had a slim build and about 6’ in height. He was wearing a long sleeved hoodie with camouflage pants and white sneakers.
“This was a terrifying ordeal for the two men involved – luckily they weren’t injured,’ said RCIPS Sergeant Richard Scott. “Initial indications are that this was a preplanned robbery. It could be that the two suspects had been watching the movements of staff for a few days prior to the actual incident.”
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call police at 949-4222 or Crime Stoppers at 800-8477 (TIPS).
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Another case of ‘send the fool further’.
The police announced a couple of months ago that there were only 15 people involved in gun crime in Cayman.
We were then consoled by another report that those of the fifteen that weren’t dead were in jail (paraphrased here).
And ever since then we’ve been plagued with robberies.
Maybe some of the 500 guns that establish the difference between 1100 snd 1600 guns that are supposed to be licenced are being used in these crimes.
Not that the police will be able to contest this opinion – they don’t know how many guns are LICENCED on this island so they can’t say different.
And since their list of ‘usual suspects’ that are still alive are in prison, the challenge will be great to solve these robberies because now they have no one to match the evidence to, being that they were so used to investigating that way: find the evidence that suits the suspect instead of finding the suspect that suits the evidence.
Poor us!
This makes for disturbing and depressing reading for anyone living outside of Cayman, whether they be visitors, intended visitors or expatriate Caymanians.
Cayman has been suffering from the ‘ostrich’s head in the sand syndrome’ for a very long time now and its reached a stage of ‘paralysis’.
The ‘bad boys’ know they have the police licked and are now operating with impunity.
If this had been any other country but the Cayman Islands, the public outcry from every level of society would be so great that the government and the police force would have to produce results or heads would roll.
That is a certainty.
Not one robbery foiled, except by civilians, no reports of any robberies being solved and prosecuted, no word from the ‘great leader’ himself or his counterpart, no word of any type of plan, strategy or operation by the RCIPS to attack this problem in a decisive manner.
Now the hotels are being targeted and for sure, there will be a shooting and murder involved sooner rather than later.
Has armed robbery now become a legitimate career in the Cayman Islands ?
The right to bear arms. Within your place of work, or home.
Simple to say, simple to implement. And the bad guys go away.
They brazenly wave guns around, because the people/business’s being robbed have NOTHING TO FIGHT BACK WITH.
All these stories right there, shows you how this "no right to bearing arms" is working for you.
It’s not.
For the love of god, at least let the security guards get armed. So they can protect the business’s. I can guarentee you, that the crime rate for robberies of business’s will go drastically down or pretty much stop all together if those that are robbing these places. Know, they might get dead, if they decide to rob a place with an armed security guard.
Big Berd, on the face of it, the obvious solution;until we look a little deeper, that is.
Problems with that suggestion are:
1. The RCIPS is, as all nominally British police forces are, a generally unarmed police force with special firearms units. If there is no change of regulations for a generally armed police force, how would generally armed security officers be allowed to be deployed under current laws and regulations ?
2. There is no standard code for the training and certification of security officers in the Cayman Islands. They come from all over the world, with varying backgrounds and experience gained mainly from police and military careers that have lapsed or expired many years before gaining work in the Cayman Islands. How do you determine who would be licenced to carry firearms and how do you guarantee standards of training and conduct from civilian security officers ?
3. When this so-called Private Security Law was being brought into effect,there was similar competition for training contracts that have surrounded the award of the CCTV contract; we all know how that one has turned out. Need I say more on the issue ?
4. If the laws are changed to allow civilian security officers, they would have to be changed for the general population as well; I certainly would not want any civilian security guard having the right to carry firearms and I couldn’t, if I was a citizen of the Cayman Islands.
My suggestion is this.
The RCIPS should be looking at formulating a special Ant-Robbery Armed Response Unit with the armed police they already have and conduct anti-robbery operations that would be intelligence-led. If anyone is going to confront these armed criminals, it has to be armed police officers. The RCIPS must do what its being paid by the taxpayer to do.
Alternatively, let the business and civilian population have more access to bear firearms for self-defense reasons by relaxing the licencing laws and introducing a rigid licencing process based on proper training and certification.
This is how it works in the USA, the worlds’ main legal firearms-bearing country.
I can guarantee you, any person in the USA is far safer than the citizens and residents of the Cayman Islands are at this present time.
wow CCTV really really helps, I totally recognize this guy.
Why..it’s zorro the masked avenger!
I am so glad to have CCTV instead of the right to bear arms. It really looks like it’s working.
Crime is down, haven’t had a robbery in what…24 hours.
*cries with joy over the CCTV miracle.
I wonder what kind of safe it was that it could be ‘forced’ so easily. Sounds like either an inside job or somebody professionaly trained in locksmithing (ex/employee of Vaults, Locks and Safes?)
‘The first suspect was described as dark complected, 5’6" and heavyset. He was wearing a black t-shirt, dark blue faded jeans and black and white sneakers. He had a black ski mask covering his face, according to witnesses.’
WOW — they have no chance of catching this guy if the RCIPS can’t even get their description right WITH A PHOTO — this guy isn’t heavyset at all!!!! He’s Skinny!!! God help us.
‘Tunaking’ – stick to catching tuna.
That is a wild accusation regarding the bandit being an ex-employee of any professional company.
I have a safe supplied by this company and I do not care if one of their employees came in to my establishment uninvited, unless they have the right combination (only I know) cutting or drilling equipment and plenty of hours to spare they are not getting in… I smell an inside job!
BTW – have the RCIP called in any safe professional to assess if it is possible that this safe was forced??