Police arrested three men overnight at a private residence in Warwick in connection with the armed robbery at Gold Standard in the Washington Mall on Wednesday – one as young as 19.
Detective Superintendent Nicholas Pedro, Crime Division said: “The men, aged between 19 & 24 years old, remain in custody while detectives continue their investigations. They have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.
“We continue to ask the public for their help in providing any information they may have, or if they witnessed the event. Please do not assume because people are in custody that the police do not need the public input.
“We are also in possession of evidence from the scene and continue to analyse this,” he added.
“We continue to review imagery of the suspects, and will not be releasing any footage to the public at this time.
“We are grateful for the continued support, but ask that anyone with information please contact the Serious Crime Unit on 247-1739, Detective Inspector Kenten Trott on 717-2345, e-mail ktrott1@bps.bm or call the main police telephone number 295-0011.
“Alternatively, anonymous tips can be sent via the independent and confidential Crime Stoppers hotline 800-8477 or www.crimestoppers.bm.”
Two men rode into the mall on a motorcycle armed with what appeared to be a gun and smashed display cases just after the store opened at 9am.“They parked their bike at the entrance and they made their way down the corridor to Gold Standard,” he said.
“They immediately went in there and started smashing the display cases and grabbing jewellery.”
Two members of staff, one in a back room, were in the shop at the time and that a pistol was brandished, but not fired. There were no injuries.
Police said the men escaped through the mall and rode off along Church Street with “an unknown quantity” of jewellery.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Mr Pedro said: “We recognise that this incident will likely prompt fear in law-abiding members of the community, who either witnessed the incident first hand or found out about it by other means.”
“While Bermuda has not been immune to acts of violence or the use of firearms, this robbery strikes at the heart of our sense of safety as law-abiding citizens go about their daily business.
“This type of criminality cannot be allowed to go undetected.
“The offenders on this motorcycle are known to someone whether it’s your son, your daughter, your nephew, niece, boyfriend or girlfriend,” he added.
“Members of the community should, rightfully, be outraged. Help us to make our island safer and call the investigative team.”
Meanwhile, a City of Hamilton spokeswoman said: “The City of Hamilton has reached out to the affected business to lend support after what must have been a very harrowing experience for the employees.
“This brazen behaviour underscores the need for businesses, especially those with cash on hand, to conduct a thorough security audit of their premises and ensure that they have taken every safety measure to lessen the probability of a crime of this nature and ensure the wellbeing of their staff.”
