Armed Robbery Reported in Ladyville, Police Search for Suspects

Police are investigating a late-afternoon armed robbery that occurred on Saturday in the Lake Garden Community along the Old Northern Highway in Ladyville.  According to police, around 5:34 p.m. officers responded to reports of a robbery at a residence located at Mile 10½. Upon arrival, investigators spoke with 59-year-old food vendor Frederick Usher, who reported that he had been outside his yard shortly after five o’clock when two men rode in on a red motorcycle resembling a Lifan brand.  Usher told police that one of the men, dressed in a black shirt and wearing a helmet, exited the motorcycle, pulled out a firearm, and demanded money. Fearing for his safety, he handed over approximately three thousand Belize dollars in cash along with his light-blue iPhone Pro Max cellular phone.  The gunman then forced the vendor at gunpoint to lie on the ground beside his parked pickup truck while the second suspect, wearing a red shirt, searched the vehicle. Although nothing was taken from the truck, the suspects reportedly grabbed a camouflage sling bag containing an additional $130 from a nearby picnic table before fleeing toward the Philip Goldson Highway and Old Well Road junction.  The total value of items stolen was estimated at $5,430 Belize dollars.  Investigators later found the stolen cellular phone discarded near Mile 11 on the Philip Goldson Highway. No injuries were reported in this incident.