In the weekly press briefing at the Royal Anguilla Police Headquarters, the press was informed of the various offences from the period of January 16-23 by Deputy Illidge Richardson, Sergeant Yearwood, Inspector Sinclair and Superintendent Rudolph Proctor.

Superintendent Proctor, Sergeant Yearwood and Inspector Sinclair

A major incident occurred on Tuesday morning between 8:00 am and 8:40 am at Casa Nadine in The Valley when two men wearing face masks attempted to rob a couple staying there. One of the armed men was carrying a pistol and used the butt to assault the male victim in the face during the struggle. The couple work in Anguilla. Although their normal place of residence is St. Maarten, one is a French and the other a British national. Nothing was stolen as the two perpetrators fled the scene.
Inspector Sinclair spoke candidly to the press about the incident: “We did respond and it would appear that there was time between when the incident occurred and when we arrived. We went with an armed team and smashed down a few doors to find the assailants. There were louvers removed from a bathroom window and we do believe they left through there. There was an immediate response by the Task Force once we were informed. We continued with lots of police activity throughout the day in trying to catch them.”

Inspector Sinclair reported that there are two persons in custody that have not been charged yet. He added. “I feel that the response that was made by us was great. All available resources were employed so from the point of view from an operational response, we have all the tools we need to solve this crime.”
In other police news, two persons have been arrested for unlawful sexual intercourse and another female was arrested for possession of Cannabis while attempting to come to Anguilla from St. Martin. In total, there were seventeen crimes; five burglaries in The Valley, George Hill, South Hill, North Hill and Cedar Village in which a power washer, battery charger, compressor, cell phone, drinking glasses and food items were stolen. Additionally there were six thefts in which two cell phones, a bicycle, keys, and bale of plywood were stolen in the areas of West End, Rey Hill, North Valley, South Hill, Island Harbour and Sandy Ground. There were also six traffic accidents five of which were minor and one was quite serious. The serious accident involved a truck and a rental car in Long Ground in which an adult and a child from St. Martin were harmed. The adult received serious injuries to both legs and the child received injuries to the right hand and left leg. They were both taken to the hospital in St. Martin for immediate medical attention.

The police are appealing to the public for help in solving these serious crimes. Rudolph Proctor said, “These are serious incidents and I want to stress this. The patterns of crime in Anguilla have changed as we are now seeing armed assailants with firearms doing daylight robberies. The CID and us have been doing serious work and we are changing as they are changing. We want to warn the public that in order for us to be successful they must continue to support and help us. There are certain delays because we are responding to other things as well. People need to remain vigilant about any suspicious activity. We are making a push to catch firearms and take them off the street. In 2008 the public will see a lot more police activity.”
-Jason Allen

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