A 25-year-old serial burglar who police said had been targeting businesses in downtown Port-of-Spain in recent weeks was arrested by police on Sunday night. The suspect, who has several addresses, was caught red-handed by police from the Port-of- Spain CID, led by ASP Ajith Persad.
He was reportedly caught while attempting to break into a supermarket at Charles Street, Port-of- Spain. Shortly after midnight on Sunday, police received a report from a passer-by that a man was trying to break into the supermarket from the roof. Police responded and arrested him before he entered. The burglary was the second such incident at the same business place in the past two weeks. The suspect is expected to be charged with both break-ins.
The suspect, who has a long criminal record with several previous convictions for burglary, remained detained at the Central Police Station, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, where he was being interrogated by detectives up to late yesterday. Investigators were said to be reviewing CCTV footage of similar robberies at other businesses in recent weeks in an attempt to determine if he was involved. The Downtown Merchants and Owners Association (Doma) has highlighted incidents of such rooftop burglaries since July, with renewed calls two weeks ago for additional policing measures. The calls coincided with the launch of T&T Police Service Christmas crime plan for Portof- Spain.
Doma president Gregory Aboud said yesterday he could not comment on the suspect's arrest as he had not been apprised of the latest development in the rooftop burglary case. Senior police sources said the arrests of other suspects of the rooftop burglaries were imminent. Senior Supt Wayne Boyd, Cpl Anthony Williams and PCs Aberdeen and Kennedy are leading the probe. (DA)