Acting Police Commissioner Junior Benjamin suspects that the failure of bandits to get income from other illegal activities may be prompting them to target larger businesses, including restaurants and fast-food franchises.
On Monday night, the Starbucks outlet at Brentwood Mall, Chaguanas, was robbed as two bandits, one of whom had a revolver, walked into the store and announced a robbery. The bandits stole $255 before escaping in a white Nissan Tiida.
On Sunday night two gunmen robbed the Ellerslie Plaza branch of Haagen Dazs, stealing $15,791.
A customer who was in the store at the time was also robbed of her bag, which contained a cellphone and bank cards.
On March 26, two bandits walked into Palki Indian Restaurant, on Long Circular Road, St James, where they handed a note to a waitress announcing a robbery.
The bandits stole $1,000 from the cash register, two cellphones and an Apple iPad before escaping.
Contacted for comment on Tuesday, Benjamin said while the data available to police suggested there was a reduction in robberies, he was aware of the trend where bandits seemed to be targeting larger businesses. He said criminals may be hoping to get more money from these stores but noted the police were using multiple avenues to follow up on these enquiries.
“These leads come from fingerprints and intelligence areas, including following the CCTV footage to guide us, so we are looking at the trends, so we recognise the big businesses is where they’re going after now, so we’re going after it.”
Benjamin also urged managers and business owners to take the necessary precautions against criminals by being more observant of who was entering the store and paying close attention to customers.
