Three held after bar robbery, firearm seizure in Manchester
MANCHESTER, Jamaica – Quick action by the Manchester police resulted in the recovery of stolen items, the seizure of an illegal firearm and the arrest of three men.
The recovered items had reportedly been taken by gunmen who had earlier robbed patrons at a sports bar in Christian in the parish. No one was hurt in the incident, police said.
Reports are that around 9:00 pm, four men, two armed with handguns, held up and robbed the owner, bartender and a patron at the bar on the Fine Grass main road.
During the hold-up, the men took three cellular phones from the victims and ripped three poker boxes, all valued at $1.8 million, from the wall.
They also took several top-shelf liquors valued at $250,000 and a bag with an undetermined sum of cash. The men escaped in a waiting black Toyota Voxy.
A team from Manchester police responded quickly and intercepted the Voxy on the Hopewell main road. Inside the vehicle were the three phones stolen from the bar, along with several others. The men were taken into custody.
Further investigations led the police to an abandoned building in Hopewell district, where the stolen poker boxes and the top-shelf liquors were recovered.
Another abandoned building a short distance away was also searched, and a Thunder 9 Bersa 9mm pistol with a magazine containing several rounds was found.
The recovered items and the seized firearm were all taken into police custody.
Up to press time, the men had not been charged.