A man has appeared in court charged in connection with an armed robbery at a jewellery store.
Police reported that a masked man, armed with what appeared to be a firearm and a hammer, hit the Caribbean Gold store on George Town’s Fort Street on Saturday, 22 Nov., shortly before 3:30pm and smashed a display case.
The thief managed to grab some jewellery before he was pushed out of the shop by a member of staff, where he dropped the firearm, later found to be an imitation handgun, and fled.
A spokesperson for Caribbean Gold said, “We didn’t expect that to happen – it was so quick.
“It was a traumatising experience for everyone involved.”
Following the robbery, police were alerted and a man was later stopped and arrested on nearby Mary Street.
A hammer and other items, as well as some jewellery, were recovered from near the store.
The 19-year-old suspect, who lives in George Town, appeared in court on Monday, 24 Nov., on charges of robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an offence.
The member of staff who tackled the raider suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident which required hospital care, but he was discharged after treatment.
Kay’s jewellery store, just across the street from Caribbean Gold, was hit in August, with two masked men escaping with a “significant” amount of cash and jewellery.
A spokesperson for Kay’s afterwards called for a much stronger police presence on the streets of the capital, especially during business hours.
He also highlighted George Town was a tourist magnet and that armed robberies dented Cayman’s image as a safe place to visit.
Police at the time said that extra police resources, including undercover officers and high-profile firearms units, had been deployed to “hot spot” areas, such as George Town and West Bay, during peak times for offending.