The Portland Police have laid charges of Robbery with Aggravation, Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, Using a Firearm to Commit a Felony, Assault at Common Law, and Receiving Stolen Property against four men regarding multiple robberies that happened within the parish on Sunday, March 5 and Friday, March 10.
Charged are:
- 28-year-old Jermaine Phillips, otherwise called ‘Bean’ carpenter of Old Harbour Road, St. Catherine.
- 37-year-old Shamar Townsend, otherwise called ‘DJ’ Mason of Old Harbour Road, St. Catherine.
- 31-year-old Joel Reid, construction worker of Snow Hill District, Portland 4.
- Alrick Jones otherwise called ‘Jojo’ construction worker of May Pen, Clarendon.
Reports are that at about 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 05, Phillips and Townsend entered a bar and pointed a firearm at a woman. They proceeded to rob her of Five Hundred and Nine Thousand Jamaican dollars (JMD 509,000) and made their escape.
Following that incident, on Monday, March 10 about 11:05 p.m., two masked men armed with handguns exited a white Toyota Probox motor vehicle and ordered a female bartender, who was closing up, inside the bar. The men robbed her of a Samsung cellular phone, assorted liquor, cigarettes, and an undetermined sum of cash, while an unarmed man robbed a bystander of his cellular phone. The men then exited the bar and made good their escape.
Subsequently, the white Toyota Probox with three men aboard was intercepted along the Caenwood main road, in the parish. One of the stolen cellular phones was found in their possession. They were consequently taken into custody.
A series of police operations ensued which resulted in a quantity of liquor being recovered, the seizure of one Luger 9mm pistol with a magazine containing two 9mm cartridges and the arrest and charge of an additional man.
The four men were charged on Thursday, March 16 following Identification Parades. Their court date is to be finalised.