THWARTED
Beryllium security team evades armed robbers in St Bess
Published:Thursday | April 6, 2023 | 1:36 AMAdrian Frater/News Editor
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WESTERN BUREAU: A brazen attempt to ambush and rob a cash-in-transit vehicle owned by Beryllium Limited along the Bogue Hill main road in St Elizabeth on Wednesday was thwarted after the security team breached a roadblock set up by armed criminals...
WESTERN BUREAU:
A brazen attempt to ambush and rob a cash-in-transit vehicle owned by Beryllium Limited along the Bogue Hill main road in St Elizabeth on Wednesday was thwarted after the security team breached a roadblock set up by armed criminals and sped away under a barrage of gunfire.
A St Elizabeth-based police officer, who was a part of the police team which responded to the incident, told The Gleaner that the incident occurred at about 1 p.m. .
The Beryllium team were reportedly travelling along the Bogue Hill main road towards Balaclava when they came upon a suspicious-looking vehicle which was positioned to block the roadway.
“As they were trying to squeeze between the little space that was left between the vehicle that was partially blocking their path and the side of the road, they were fired on by men who were waiting in ambush,” said the policeman. “The criminals gave chase but they (the Beryllium team) drove to the Siloah Police Station, where they made a report.”
After being given the description of the vehicle in which the criminals were travelling, the police launched a search in several surrounding communities, but the would-be-robbers were not located.
Lieutenant Commander George Overton, director of operations at the Guardsman Group, under which Beryllium falls, expressed relief when The Gleaner spoke to him late on Wednesday.
“They (the robbers) were not successful. There were no injuries, no losses, minor damage to the vehicle,” said Overton. “There was an attempt to block the road … . They were able to evade the roadblock and the criminals shot at the vehicle as it escaped.”
Wednesday’s incident followed on the heels of two other attacks on Beryllium teams as they were in the process of servicing ATMs in Portmore, St Catherine, in February and March. Three guards were shot in each of the previous incidents, one of whom died in the first instance. The thieves reportedly made off with a combined $33 million in those attacks.
On Tuesday, the police reported making a breakthrough in the March robbery, as one man has been charged while six others are in custody.
Robbers had also previously attacked a Guardsman armoured vehicle in St Elizabeth in March 2021, killing one security guard and injuring two others in an early-morning robbery attempt.
According to reports, the guards drove up to a cambio along Main Street in Santa Cruz, when they were attacked by gunmen who subsequently fled in a white Honda Civic motor car.