Thief robs 'granny' at doctor's office

An elderly woman was robbed in full view of several persons at a medical facility in the Corporate Area recently by a brazen thief who escaped on a motor cycle.

Cordella Lewis, 79, told THE STAR that as she entered the doctor's office, a man crept up behind her and grabbed her purse. "The doctor asked if the young man behind me was with me and as I turn to look the man grabbed my purse and ran through the door," Lewis said.

The retired teacher said that the man got away on a bike that was waiting for him outside of the establishment. "I had $5,000 in my purse that I had drawn from the bank that I was going to use to pay for the visit. I also had about US$8 that was in my purse for a while," Lewis said.

from the bank

According to the senior citizen, a man who was washing cars on the premises of the doctor's office, said that the accomplice on the bike asked for water to put in the bike and he found this to be odd.

The doctor, who asked not to be named, said that it seems the man followed Lewis from the bank. "What we gathered is that these people were following her from the bank and we suspect that they might be working with people from the bank also," the doctor said.

When THE STAR contacted the Grants Pen Police Station where Lewis claimed she initially made a report, the police said hat there is no record of the incident in the log book. Lewis, however, said that a female cop took the initial report wrote on a piece of scrap paper. "I told her that I would prefer her to write in the log book and she said that it was ok," Lewis said while adding that she was not given a receipt.

Force Orders, implemented by the Jamaica Constabulary Force in 2008 requires persons who reporting a crime to any police facility to be furnished with a receipt to authenticate their report. This initiative was implemented in an effort to reduce the number of crimes that go unreported and to ensure greater accountability.