The owner of a restaurant hit by three masked robbers armed with a handgun and machetes on Monday vowed he would not be deterred by the robbery, which netted more than $4,000.

Collin Eccles, the owner of the popular Chill Spot in Savannah, said the business would continue as normal — and that he hoped to expand with outlets in the centre, east and west of the island.

But Eccles added one of the staff on duty at the time of the Saturday night raid suffered a major shock and was still off work recovering.

He said, “The one that ran, she was terrified. She called in sick. She’s out right now because she is traumatised.”

But he added, “Everyone else is back to work.”

Eccles, who was not at the restaurant at the time of the robbery, appealed for anyone with information that could help the police inquiry to contact them.

He said, “As you can see, the police have asked anyone who has information to come to them. I’d encourage anyone who has information to do that.”

Eccles added the 13-year-old business, on Homestead Crescent, had been hit by thieves “two or three” times over the years, but always when it was closed and the losses had been small.

Eccles said the robbery at Chill Spot, which employs 18 staff, was carried out by “just a couple of guys who want to get free living. They just want to live off other people. They don’t want to work.

“I don’t see that things are that bad … as long as they get them off the streets, it’s OK.”

He added, “Everything is great here. I don’t have a problem. You always expect something like that. It’s just life.

“But this is my livelihood and I plan to expand to maybe town, the East End and West Bay.”

Police said three men entered the restaurant, one with what appeared to be a handgun and two others with machetes.

They all had their faces covered, were dressed in dark clothes and escaped in a silver Honda Fit.

Police tracked the car, with help from the service’s helicopter, to Templeton Street in George Town’s Windsor Park.

A West Bay man, 34, was detained near the car in connection with the robbery and remains in custody.

Violent weekend crimes

The raid on Chill Spot, which happened about 9:40pm on Saturday, was part of a weekend of crime that also saw a security guard shot in the foot at a construction site on Birch Tree Hill at about 1:30am on Saturday.

Two men came under fire at the car park of Centennial Towers on West Bay Road in George Town just 30 minutes later. The rounds hit a building and a vehicle but no one was injured.

One man was arrested in connection with the first incident and two were detained in connection with the second.

A restaurant on Mary Street, also in George Town, was robbed by a man wielding a machete on Friday afternoon.

A man, 28, from North Side, was arrested on Shedden Road near the scene on Sunday afternoon in connection with the incident.

It is alleged he was also in possession of a fake firearm. The man is also alleged to have been drink driving and to have committed drugs offences.

Heather Bodden, the independent opposition MP for Savannah, said she had visited Chill Spot on Saturday night and again on Sunday to check on the wellbeing of the staff.

She said, “It’s very sad that it’s reached that point right now. For something like this to happen — it’s appalling the way it happened.

“The staff were in there. They handled it quite well, but it’s still a shock.”

Bodden added, “It’s quite distressing for our community, which is a very quiet one. I just hope that they catch them.”

She said that after a robbery at the area’s Rubis gas station in 2023, businesses beefed up security and made more use of CCTV cameras — their own and the wider network across Savannah.

Bodden explained, “We have been very vigilant and there are community group chats and Neighbourhood Watch signs throughout the area. Everybody looks out for everybody else.

“We’re grateful that no one was hurt. I checked on the staff on Sunday and you could see they were on alert, but it was business as usual.”

Bodden said Savannah was the fastest-growing area on Grand Cayman and deserved its own police station.

She added, “It would help a lot … Nearby there is some office space at Countryside Shopping Village where they could put a police station.”

But Bodden said the police response on Saturday night had been good.

She added, “Police came from Bodden Town and George Town. Police came from everywhere and the helicopter was there too.”

Deputy Premier Kenneth Bryan highlighted on a radio show on Monday that arrests had been made in connection with all the weekend incidents.

He added that Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton and his team “will definitely be speaking more to the public in the coming days”.