By Morgan Adderley

POLICE have disrupted four armed robbery rings and have arrested 11 suspects believed to be responsible for a string of armed robberies throughout New Providence.

Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash held a press conference yesterday to provide updates and assuage public concerns regarding the armed robberies that have occurred over the past few months.

Speaking at the Central Detective Unit (CDU) yesterday, Chief Supt Cash said CDU officers “have conducted an extensive investigation into several organised criminal groups which were perpetrating these armed robberies in four distinctive areas throughout New Providence.”

He added: “One (area) being the eastern and the western shores of New Providence, second being what we refer to as the ‘bump and rob’ armed robberies and then thirdly are armed robberies involving residents in the eastern communities. The fourth was armed robberies that were connected to the schools, the breaking (in) and the robbing of the security officers.

“Since then I’m pleased to say that we have disrupted four of these armed robbery groups. We have taken into custody 11 suspects who (have) been charged and were arraigned before the courts on various counts of armed robbery. In total, there are 12 matters that are pending trial.

“We also want to say that we remain committed in all our endeavours to disrupt this sort of behaviour, and to remove the fear from these communities that these armed robberies are impacting.

“In addition to that, I also want to say that these groups comprise between two to three different persons who are involved in these incidents. And we also want to say to the members of the public that there are one or two of these individuals who are still outstanding.”

The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) was successful in arresting two suspects quickly after an armed robbery occurred on a beach on Tuesday.

“Shortly after 9pm, a man was sitting in his vehicle on Montagu Beach, when he was approached by two armed men who robbed him of cash and other items before fleeing in a Silver Honda Fit,” police said in a crime report.

“Police immediately sent out an APB (all-points bulletin) for the suspect and shortly thereafter, officers from (the) Mobile Division intercepted the Honda vehicle in the area of Village Road and Shirley Street. The suspects were taken into custody and the stolen cash and other items stolen were recovered.

“Police (suspect) these two men to be the mastermind behind a number of recent armed robberies.”

Yesterday Chief Supt Cash said police are noticing a new trend of armed robberies in the south-western district of New Providence. He said since three people were victims of armed robbery in this area on Saturday, police have “deployed additional resources in that particular policing division so we could prevent these incidents from occurring or reoccurring further.”

Chief Supt Cash asked anyone who has information on armed robbery rings to contact police at 919 or 911. He said that public assistance is necessary because “once we seek to arrest these persons, they go into hiding for long periods. So, it’s a matter of intelligence as to how we go about trying to identify where they are and where they’re living… This is why we appeal to members of the public to assist us in locating these persons.”

He also advised members of the public to stay vigilant and to specifically to avoid parking on dark beaches late at night.