Three arrested for kidnapping, robbery of foreign nationals granted bail
PORTLAND, Jamaica —Three Portland men who were on kidnapping and conspiracy charges were offered bail when they appeared before the Port Antonio Parish Court on Tuesday.
They are Sandre Phipps, Rolando Thomas and Davian Henry. All three were offered bail with the following conditions: $300,000 with one or two sureties, a stop order in place and surrender of all travel documents.
Additionally, they were also ordered to report to the Port Antonio Police Station.
Phipps is to report to the Port Antonio Police Sation on Saturdays and Thursdays between 6:00 am and 7:00pm; Thomas on Sundays and Wednesday between 6:00am and 7:00 pm and Henry on Tuesdays and Fridays between 6:00am and 7:00 pm.
The three men were arrested and jointly charged for kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnapping, conspiracy, obtaining a benefit by menace, conspiracy to commit robbery with aggravation, theft to access device, conspiracy to aid any other person to commit an offence, knowingly obtaining identity information and robbery with aggravation.
All charges stem from an incident on December 17 when it was reported that two foreign nationals visited Winifred Beach in Fairy Hill, Portland.
It is reported that during their visit it began to rain heavily and both complainants decided to leave. Upon leaving the beach, the complainants allegedly took a white motor car with the intended destination to be Port Antonio town. Upon reaching the Folly main road, the driver of the motor vehicle reportedly took the complainants to Folly Ruins where they were approached by three mask-wearing men armed with knives.
Both complainants were reportedly robbed of their belongings including one black wallet containing US$30,150, one debit and one credit card, one GO-Pro e-commerce valued at US$299, one black Samsung Galaxy S22 valued at US $1,000 and one blue iPhone 14 cellular phone valued at $US1,500, the police said.
Police are continuing their investigations.
-Everard Owen