Four men appeared in the Whim Magistrate’s Court charged in connection with the assault and attempted robbery of a Liverpool Village grocery owner and were refused bail.
Lamont Beveny, 30, a porkknocker of Lot 139 Sideline Dam, Beterverwagting (BV), East Coast Demerara (ECD); Kelvin Williams, 26, a porkknocker of Lot 2605 North Ruimveldt Georgetown; Michael Cudjoe, 29, a taxi driver of Lot 7 Triumph Village, ECD; and Quwanza Mc Rae, 35, a clothing vendor of 91 Sideline Dam BV, appeared before Magistrate Charlyn Artiga on Thursday.
According to the charge, on December 7, at Liverpool Village, Corentyne they unlawfully assaulted Chanradai Ketwaroo with attempt to rob her. They were not required to plead to the indictable charge and were remanded to prison until December 29th.
They are expected to face an additional charge pertaining to an unlicensed gun and ammunition.
According to a police press release, around 10 am on the day in question, a car with four men drove up to the grocery store and two of the men, who were holding a bag with what appeared to be a long object inside, stormed into the shop. They confronted the 53-year-old owner of the business and demanded cash, assaulting her, but she raised an alarm which forced the men to retreat into the vehicle and escape.
Ranks of a police motorcycle anti-crime patrol and the police stations in the area were informed and a police corporal, who was armed with a shotgun, was able to stop the vehicle outside the Albion Police Station.
One of the suspects exited the vehicle with the bag in an escape attempt but was pursued by the corporal and apprehended, the police said. An unlicensed sawn-off shotgun and six cartridges were found in his possession.
The three other suspects in the vehicle drove away, but two of them were later arrested in a taxi at police roadblock near the Berbice Bridge. The last suspect who was driving the getaway vehicle was later arrested by the police at a roadblock at Mahaicony, ECD after he had driven through a roadblock at Weldaad, West Coast Berbice, the police said.
Meanwhile, the Ketwaroo family has praised the police. The officer in charge of the Number 2 Sub ‘B’ Division Leslie Isles along with other ranks and Pastor Ram from the Cops and Faith Network have offered counselling to Ketwaroo and her family.
