MOVING TRUCK USED TO ROB HOUSE Even doors, windows and dresser with clothes stolen
July 7 was just another day for nurse Jane White*. She had just completed a 36-hour shift at a hospital in another parish and returned to her Old Harbour home to enjoy a weekend of peace and quiet. However, she was in for a very unpleasant surprise when she got home.
“My father and my son weren’t home, so I went and picked up my spare key from around the back and sit down under my mango tree, a gwaan talk to my partner and saying I was going to enjoy some Julie mangoes. However, while on the phone, I realised my house had no grilles and I was staring through my house. When I stepped in my yard, I didn’t realise because the lights were off as no one was home,” she said.
White said that she stood in complete disbelief.
“Me just buss out a bawl. When me go, me realise say me house empty — no sofa, nothing. All the pot and the fridge in the kitchen gone. They just cut my grille and put it one side,” she said.
White said that she thought the thieves had only stolen items from her kitchen and living room, but they did not stop there.
“Me think that was the end of it, so me say me a go in my room. When me a go pull the door, me realise say no door nuh deh there. Them throw the clothes out my wardrobe and gone with it. At least them leave my bed, but when I go in my son’s room, his bed and everything else was gone. They also took the windows out of his room. The same treatment was given to my father’s room. All the iron board gone,” she said.
Except for some clothing items, a bed and groceries, the burglars emptied the entire house. The loss is estimated to be more than $500,000, she said.
ONE PERSON IN CUSTODY
The Old Harbour police have confirmed the incident, and told THE STAR that one person is in custody in relation to the robbery. White said that when she told her neighbours about the incident, they admitted to seeing a moving truck and men moving to and from her home, but initially thought she was either moving or changing her furniture. “They told me that the robbers struck the Friday night, but the way the men were moving comfortably in and out, no one would suspect that they were thieves. I really don’t know what to say, except that they may be furnishing their entire home because they took the doors and windows too,” she said. The distraught woman said that she is extremely disappointed that her small community would be targeted by such vicious criminals. She stated that earlier this year, another household was also the target of thieves. “When they are in their bed sleeping, I’m up toiling just to ensure that I live comfortable. To see that people just do stuff like this, it’s hard man. I can’t face my own home. We just have to be more mindful of each other and our surroundings,” she said.