Email

Print

You probably didn’t know it, but for the past week or so Police have been running what’s called “Operation Shutdown” – it’s an aggressive, intensive, low publicity operation to break the cycle of armed assaults, home invasion and retaliatory crimes that had been plaguing the city since September. And in its quiet way, it was effective – as reports of armed assaults and gun violence decreased significantly over the past week. Police have also made a number of unpublicized gun seizures including an UZI and an AK. Impressive and commendable, but not permanent and like any force under restraint, eventually, crime is going to find a way to get out. And it did this afternoon with two brazen armed assaults.

The first happened around midday at the corner of Cemetery Road and Euphrates Avenue one of the city’s busiest intersections – but the crowds posed no barrier for two gunmen who easily overpowered a 15 year old shop-keeper. We were on the scene.

Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Just after 12, two men strode into Tienda Melchor Shop at the corner of cemetery road and Euphrates Avenue and one of them pulled out a gun and put it to the head of the store-keeper, a 15 year old. They demanded money and he gave them all he had, which was two thousand dollars. For good measure, they also helped themselves to a DVD players and a few pairs of these boots and a bag to stuff it all in.

They left in Red Ford Escort with taxi plates. Police responded immediately and saw a vehicle matching that description in the area of Regent Street West. The driver taxi-man Allen Martinez pulled up and was hiding out at the back of the lot. Though police have detained him as a possible suspect, a search of his car failed to produce any result. He told the police and us he knew nothing about any hold-up.

Allen Martinez, Suspect
“I dah wah taxi man and I nuh know about no robbery. I have to mek them know that more than one time they put me in this allegation yah so and I nuh know bout no robbery. I dah wah big man, taxi man inna my life. I nuh know bout no robbery. I nuh do they kinda crime. I neva yet do a crime in my life.”

Jules Vasquez,
“How you end up inna?”

Allen Martinez,
“I wah know dah why they di harass me fah. They harass me yesterday and they harass me again today.”

But despite his protestations – Allen was taken away in a police escort and detained.

The taxi-driver is not known to people in the yard where he parked but he told us that he pulled up there because he didn’t want to be locked up by police again for something he didn’t do. Investigators at the scene feel he acted suspiciously and that his car matches the description of the one in the robbery – so he remains detained.