Daylight Robbery on Vernon Street Caught on Camera, Still Unreported

A video of a bold, daylight robbery on Vernon Street in Belize City is making its rounds on social media. The footage shows a red Toyota SUV stopped at a red light at the junction with Central American Boulevard when two men on a motorcycle pull up beside it. The passenger, wearing a helmet, approaches the vehicle with what appears to be a firearm. Moments later, the driver exits with his hands in the air, and the suspect removes a shoe box wrapped in a plastic bag before fleeing the scene. Despite the widespread circulation of the video, police say the incident has yet to be officially reported. Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith told Love News that without a formal report, the department has limited information but is actively working to identify both the victim and the suspect.

Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “We have seen the videos that appear to be robbery incidents in two locations one appears to be Vernon Street Belize City and the other information is suggesting occurred in Western Belize. What I can say is that no formal report has been made however the department is doing their due diligence in identifying the victims of these incidents as well as following up on who the assailants may be in the interest of apprehending them. Well we certainly try to identify those victims or the alleged victims as the case may be and advise them as to the recourse that they have. Certainly there is some evidential struggles that we would encounter if it is that we would want to arrest someone and there is no complainant and with this video yes there’s a video circulating but there is no indication as to what time, what day, the nature of it and all of that so we do try to, and many times because we have persons who are monitoring the social media when we see incidents and persons don’t report we know a lot of times persons for whatever reason may have lost confidence and in an effort to regain that confidence in the police department we would seek them out. There have been numerous instances where persons were not complaining but the police department went, saw them and advised them of the possibility of them making a report and showed that interest and it has resulted in persons being arrested and a successful prosecution being maintained.”

Up to news time tonight, the victim was yet to make an official police report.