Residents: GECCU burglars returned to beach for buried loot

Residents of Georgetown say that earlier this week, suspicious activity was observed on the beach, which they believe may be connected to the recent burglary of the Georgetown office of the General Employees Cooperative Credit Union (GECCU).{{more}}

The residents are also accusing the police of failing to respond to their calls in a timely manner, saying had they done so, the suspects could have been apprehended.

According to our source, on Tuesday morning, shortly before midday, four men were seen in a white motor vehicle on the beach, next to the Georgetown playing field. Three of the men exited the vehicle and proceeded to the beach, while the vehicle drove away.

“People saw them walking down on the bayside and they call police, but police never go,” the source said.

“They were down there for over 20 minutes; then two of them came up off the beach with bags.”

The individual said that residents’ suspicions were aroused, because the individuals who had broken into the GECCU office on Friday, June 21, around three in the morning, were seen running towards the same area, when they left the building with what is believed amounted to $100,000.

When the men were seen on the beach on Tuesday, the source said, residents were reminded of the heist late last week.

“People saw them (the burglars) run go down there on that side around ‘fore day morning’ (just before dawn on Friday)… and the same day… all of them (police) passed down just walking up and down with guns by their side. I doubt they (police) went down on the beach to look for anything,” the source related.

According to the informant, when the white vehicle returned on Tuesday, only two of the men left with the car, as the third man was late in returning from the beach.

SEARCHLIGHT was told that that third individual took a passenger van travelling in the direction of Kingstown, the same direction in which the car went. The source also said that residents recognized one of the suspects as someone who used to work in the area as a mechanic.

SEARCHLIGHT spoke with Superintendant of Police Brensley Ballantyne at the Georgetown Police Station, who indicated that the police had, in fact, responded to the calls.

He said that the police had made every effort to apprehend the suspicious men, but were unable to do so, and to say that the police did not respond was inaccurate.

“I know for sure that the police responded, but when they responded… by the time they got there they were too late,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

“We tried to put up a road block, but it wasn’t successful.”

Ballantyne noted that the time the men arrived on the beach may be different to when the police received their information, which may prompt residents to say that the constabulary did not turn up on the scene.

“That is what they might say. They might see them (suspects) there for a good while, but by the time the police got the information and they responded, they might feel that they responded too late, because when the police got the information, my understanding is that the [police] men were dispatched immediately, but when they got there the men had already left.

“If a man go to collect something, they wouldn’t spend much time,” Ballantyne pointed out.

The Superintendent called for persons having information to come to the police and offer their assistance, which, he said, would be held in the strictest confidence.

The veteran officer said that investigations into the matter are ongoing.

In this country’s rich historical past, pirates were known to bury their looted treasures on beaches around the island, only to return for them at later dates.