
A 55-year-old PH driver was shot and wounded during an attempted robbery on the morning of August 13, but quick action by security officers led to the arrest of two suspects.
The suspects are Venezuelans, both 23. The officers also recovered a loaded gun.
Police said around 6 am, the victim from Mohess Road, Penal, was driving his silver Nissan Tiida car for hire when he picked up a 33-year-old man who sat in the front passenger seat. About ten minutes later, while driving along Clarke Road, Penal, near a pond, the driver stopped to take on two other male passengers, who sat in the back.
On reaching near the Heritage compound on Clarke Road, the driver felt a metal object pressed to the back of his head and heard one of the suspects say, “Relax.”
Both the driver and the front-seat passenger became fearful for their lives. The driver stopped and attempted to get out of the car.
One of the back-seat suspects, armed with a gun, also got out. A scuffle ensued, during which a shot was fired, hitting the driver in the left thigh. The front passenger ran off, while the injured driver fled in the opposite direction towards the Heritage compound, where he alerted two on-duty security officers.
The officers responded immediately, got into their vehicle and chased after the suspects who ran along the road. The security detained the two and recovered a Smith & Wesson revolver loaded with two rounds of .38 special ammunition.
The suspects and the weapon were handed over to officers at the Penal Police Station.
The driver was taken to the Siparia District Health Facility. He was treated for a gunshot wound to the posterior left thigh and was later discharged.
CSIs WPC Villafana-Ashby and PC Moreno, and other police, visited the scene and gathered evidence. WPC Noriega of the Penal CID is continuing inquiries.