Armed robberies for first half of year down six per cent, compared to 2018
NASSAU, BAHAMAS- Four men were arrested Wednesday in connection with three armed robberies that took place hours before.
Police also recovered an illegal firearm.
According to report, a man and woman sitting in a Chevy Express van off John F. Kennedy Drive around 10 p.m. Tuesday were approached by two men, one of whom was armed.
The gunman, who emerged from a purple Nissan Cube, held the man and woman up at gunpoint and robbed them of the van, cash and other items, police said.
The men drove off in both vehicles.
Officers on patrol on John F. Kennedy Drive spotted the van and arrested the suspect driving.
The other suspect evaded officers after he humped into a nearby lake on the highway.
Police said they recovered a .45 pistol and seven rounds of ammunition.
Hours later, two armed men held up a man sitting in a black Nissan Cube in the parking lot of Fort Montague around 1 a.m.
The assailants robbed the victim of the vehicle, cash and other items before driving away.
The other suspect drove away in a silver Toyota Passo, police said.
Officers arrested three men a short while later on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway and recovered the black Nissan Cube.
Additionally, authorities reported that shortly before 2 a.m. two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, robbed a man, who was sitting in his vehicle in front of a West Street residence, of cash and a cell phone.
The men ran away.
Police reports in recent weeks have been inundated with armed robbery incidents.
While authorities have pointed to recent trends of individuals being robbed while arriving at home or leaving home, as well as those walking late at night in southwestern New Providence, they maintain that authorities have a handle on the matter.
Last week, there were three armed robberies in 12 hours.
In one of those incidents, the victim was walking on Fire Trail Road around 1 p.m. when two gunmen forced him into a red Honda and drove him to Cowpen Road before robbing him of cash and a cell phone.
Another victim was walking on Fifth Street, Coconut Grove shortly after 9 p.m. when he was approached by three men, of whom was armed, and robbed of cash.
A man who had just arrived at a residence on Turnquest Avenue, Stapledon Gardens around 1 a.m. was robbed by a gunman of cash and a cell phone.
Crime statistics released earlier this month by Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson show that armed robberies were down six percent for the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2018.
Robbery declined 26 percent, and attempted robbery dropped by 29 percent period-over-period.
