Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
Residents of Lothians Road and surrounding communities in Princes Town are complaining of being terrorised by criminals, who are breaking into homes and stealing their belongings.
Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, several residents said they feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood.
Just two weeks ago, retired police officer Anthony Hanson was hog-tied, beaten and strangled during a home invasion at his Marcano Street home.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, a few streets away, a couple had a terrifying encounter when bandits invaded their home.
Still visibly shaken, Lothians Road resident Vaughn Taylor recalled how two bandits forced their way into his home while he and his girlfriend, Charmaine Rampersad, were asleep.
Taylor said he suddenly awoke and saw a man crouching on top of a wall separating his bedroom from the drawing room, looking at them.
“God wake me up and I see this guy on top of the wall stoop down. I flash the light and he jump down on the chair and break down the chair and I run outside. When I run outside, he was screaming (to the other bandit) ‘kill him, kill him, kill him,’ so I run back inside and I block the door. My girlfriend came and helped me to block the door, and they were kicking down the door,” he recounted.
Taylor shouted to Rampersad to call the police as they struggled to keep the bandits out. The intruders eventually fled, escaping with money and jewellery.
He pointed to the damaged bedroom door, while footprints left by one of the intruders were still visible on the wall he had scaled.
Taylor said the incident was not an isolated one, claiming that several other homes in the neighbourhood had been targeted by burglars and thieves.
Despite his ordeal, Taylor said the police responded quickly and had been conducting frequent patrols in the area.
Just across from Taylor’s home, a resident of Kingsley Street had a similar encounter shortly after 3 am on Friday.
The 18-year-old woman awoke to an intruder wearing a hoodie who was rummaging through her bedroom.
Her screams alerted other family members, prompting the bandit to flee with two of her cellphones.
A 78-year-old resident, who requested anonymity, said he was now afraid to live in the community and rarely ventured outdoors.
“I feel unsafe knowing that it happens right in my backyard here, and hearing it around the area, is obvious you can’t feel safe. I try to stay safe by staying indoors. I always inside,” he said.
