UPDATE: Two of four robbery suspects were charged Friday in relation to the New Year’s Day armed holdup at the Diamonds International jewelry store in George Town.
Police charged the two men with possession of imitation firearm with intent and with robbery. They are scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
A third suspect arrested for the robbery had not been charged by Friday night “due to delays in conducting interviews because of his medical condition,” Royal Cayman Islands Police Service Chief Inspector Patrick Beersingh said.
He added, “As soon as the investigators are able to, they will interview and present the facts to the [Director of Public Prosecutions] for a ruling, which we anticipate will result in charges also.”
The man was apparently injured while he was being apprehended following the robbery. Police Commissioner David Baines, who happened to be in the area meeting friends who had arrived by cruise ship in George Town, blocked the robbers’ getaway car with his Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV and then pinned two of the suspects against a fence with his vehicle as they tried to get away. The third man ended up underneath the commissioner’s car. Police did not release details of the injured man’s medical condition.
The fourth robbery suspect has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Police said the imitation firearm possession charges do not indicate that the police are uncertain if the weapon recovered was real or fake, but is a preliminary charge while a forensic examination of the firearm is being carried out.
“The court requires an expert to certify any firearm being presented in evidence, as being a firearm by the definition of the law, even where the firearm was used to shoot someone. Until this is done, preliminary charges are sometimes laid to put suspects before court, as in this case,” Mr. Beersingh said.
Another man, arrested for theft of jewelry at the store following the armed robbery, remained in police custody Friday night, pending a legal decision on possible charges.
Another person, who was arrested for handling stolen property in relation to the theft, has been bailed, police said.
Meanwhile, police are continuing to appeal for witnesses to the robbery, which occurred at the North Church Street store around 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day, and to the subsequent arrest of the suspects.
Police are asking witnesses to contact Detective Inspector Joseph Wright at 516-8169 or by email at [email protected].
Friday Story
Police on Thursday continued to question four suspects detained in the New Year’s Day armed robbery at Diamonds International, anticipating they will be charged in court early next week.
Officials would not name the four, but said they were awaiting a ruling from the Director of Public Prosecutions
“The suspects are expected to be taken to court, once a ruling is returned from the Legal Department (DPP’s Office),” said Detective Chief Inspector Patrick Beersingh. “We cannot specify a date as this is dependent on the ruling, but the intention is to take them to court early next week.”
Mr. Beersingh did not say what was happening to a fifth suspect, unconnected to the other four, but arrested in the aftermath of the robbery when he entered the ruined premises, helping himself to a handful of items.
The robbery occurred at 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day when three masked men, one of them armed with a handgun, entered the North Church Street premises of Diamonds International, threatening a guard and smashing at least 40 show cases, doing as much as $100,000 in damage.
Filling bags with nearly $1 million worth of merchandise, the three fled the building, only to be spotted by Police Commissioner David Baines, passing the shop as he prepared to meet friends disembarking from a cruise ship.
Spinning his Trailblazer SUV, Mr. Baines sealed off the adjacent car park, denying the thieves’ their getaway car and forcing them into the street. The commissioner continued to chase them, using his car to pin them against a fence. Members of the public quickly swarmed to his aid, holding the suspects until police arrived.
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