Two men armed with guns invaded the Buckanair Bar located along the Smithfield Public Road just after midnight on Friday and robbed the owner, who was tied up and assaulted during the incident, of over $500,000 in cash and a large amount of gold jewellery.
Owner and businesswoman, Barbara Singh, 63, of Lot 4 Smithfield, New Amsterdam, said that she was in bed when she heard a noise and upon getting up she noticed two men entering her house – one armed with a long gun and another a small gun.
One of the men was reportedly dressed in camouflage clothing with a tope and a material tied around his face, while the second bandit wore a black shirt.
“Them come in and asking me ‘Where is the money? Where is the money? Where is the gold?’ and I’m shouting and screaming for neighbours hear, and a screaming, screaming and a calling the watchie that thieves in here them killing me”, Singh related.
She said the men then used a pillow to muffle her cries and tape to tie up her hands after which they began searching the entire house. “They take everything, a good amount, even my watch, even my phone, they take everything. I see one of them but every time I turn the other pushing the pillow down on my face”, she said.
She said the men assaulted her several times as she attempted to put up a fight, “I fight back and them hit me so I couldn’t fight that much because I didn’t have the strength but I fight with them”, she said.
According to the woman, they locked her in the room after collecting the money and jewellery. She was able to unlock the door eventually and raised an alarm. “They come downstairs and they break this door and they go in by the bottom here, they drink up because I come and find a GT.”
After escaping the room, she said she peeped from the front door where she noticed the men making their escape.
The police have launched an investigation into the robbery.
