MEN WITH AK-47 RIFLES ROB DEAD YARD

Commander of the St Mary Police Division, Dwight Powell, is encouraging citizens in communities in his area to report crimes after word surfaced about a robbery at a wake in the parish by men carrying AK47 rifles.

According to a man, who said he was present at the wake which was being held in the isolated community of Brainerd in the parish, the gathering came to an abrupt end when two men carrying AK47 rifles held up the event demanding money, phone and others valuables from well-wishers.

He told THE STAR that the men walked up to premises and told the disc jock to stop playing the music, before proceeding to relieve the patrons of their belongings.

"Mi inna a di car, and mi just see the man dem walk up with two AK and tell di man dem fi lock off di sound and then rob the people dem," he said. "Mi never know a suh country man dem serious. Mi hear one a di man dem pon di sound a say how unuh fi come here unprotected."

Efforts to contact the family that held the wake proved futile.

Meanwhile, like other robberies that he has personally heard of in the mentioned community and others, Powell said that the police have not received any official reports of the incident. This, he said, has caused his division to plan to put great emphasis on building trust in the community this year.

"Personally, I have heard about a few incidents that did not reach our records, and this is why we want to emphasise on building trust with the citizens as part of our policing strategy in these communities, so that they can level up with the rest of St Mary," Powell said.

Powell also wants to remind citizens that St Mary Police Division has a good system in place to protect them, so they should report such criminal matters to the police.