A 52-year-old vendor was attacked, beaten and robbed by three men in New Amsterdam on Wednesday, police said, with approximately $100,000 in cash stolen during the incident.
The victim, identified as Steve King of Lot 29 Angoys Avenue, New Amsterdam, was reportedly attacked while making his way home.
Speaking with Ignite News, King’s brother, Ishmael King, said Steve had been drinking earlier in the day and was carrying a substantial amount of cash when he left home. Ishmael said he had warned his brother to be careful with the money, claiming Steve had more than $200,000 in his possession at the time.
According to Ishmael, he was later informed that Steve had been attacked in the Angoys Avenue area, near the First Dam, Ogleton Dam. He alleged that three men confronted his brother and brutally assaulted him, including chopping him with a weapon.
“They attack him viciously, three brothers start broadsiding him and start pelting chop and like they rob him. So by the time neighbours come and tell me, people come and rush to me to tell me that somebody is chopping up my brother in the dam and robbing him. By time I reach there, he was already taken to the hospital,” Ishmael recounted.
Steve sustained injuries to his back and was left with several wounds to his head and chin, which required stitches. He was subsequently taken to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital for medical attention.
Ishmael is calling on the police and other authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take action against those responsible. He also alleged that the suspects are known to the authorities and claimed threats have been issued since the incident.
“But what I am saying, post mortem don’t bring back dead, thank God he ain’t dead. We need to know how the investigation is going with the police because remember, this is known criminals and it’s wanted men.
And being that one of them presently is on bail, and he’s one who helped chop my brother, I think the prosecutor should [be] able or the magistrate [should] redraw the bill and send out an arrest warrant for these men because presently these men are hiding in the Berbice River and they’re sending out a lot of threat messages saying who they’re going to come out and kill and who they’re going to shoot.
So we need the police to do a thorough investigation into this matter,” he said.
Police have confirmed that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
