4 robbers tie up off-duty fireman, use car to rob businesswoman, goldsmiths

Four men tied up an off-duty fireman, who was moonlighting as a taxi driver, bundled him into the back seat of his car and drove the vehicle to rob a businesswoman at Ruimzight, West Coast Demerara, but eventually one of them was caught and he has since identified his accomplices, police said.

The fireman, 50-year-old Garfield “Carry” Benjamin, is attached to the La-Grange Fire Station and is a resident and taxi driver from Stewartville, West Coast Demerara. Police said he sustained a visible injury to his head. He told police that several residents in the area hit him on the head.

The businesswoman told investigators that at about 12:40 p.m., Friday, September 13, 2024, three men appeared at her kitchen door, which was opened, pointed firearms at her and ordered her to remain silent. She reportedly said the bandits took her into the goldsmith’s workshop where they met her two employees.

Investigators were informed that the men robbed the businesswoman of two pairs of gold bangles, one pair of gold earrings, one gold ring, and one gold hand band. Her two goldsmiths, 48 and 23 years old, respectively, were reportedly robbed of their cellular phones.

“The suspects relieved each of them of the articles mentioned above. The suspects then started to make demands for more gold and money, and, in the process, one of the suspects fired a shot in the direction of the businesswoman,” the Guyana Police Force said in a statement.

The law enforcement agency said when residents heard the gunshot, they rushed to the businesswoman’s house where they saw the car speeding off but they blocked the road and prevented the car from moving.

Police were told that the driver and the three men exited the car and fled the scene on foot in the direction of the Ruimzight Backlands.

Residents of Hague, West Coast Demerara, joined a police manhunt and captured one of the suspected robbers on Saturday. “The suspect in custody, when interviewed, has since corroborated the fireman’s story to the Police. Police are also acting on the information provided by the suspect in custody as they continue to track down his three accomplices,” the police force said.

Fireman Benjamin told investigators that on Friday, at about 11:30 a.m., he was at the Vreed-en-Hoop junction on taxi service, when the four men approached him and asked if he was working. He reportedly said ‘yes’ and the suspects joined his car and requested to go to Crane. He told police that while in the car, he said two of the suspects pulled out firearms from their waists and ordered him to pull over to the side of the road. “They then tied his hands and feet with plastic straps and put him in the back seat of the car. One of the suspects drove the car to the scene, where the other three suspects exited the vehicle and entered the yard,” police added.