Vehicle stolen from Arima Police Station compound

JENSEN LA VENDE

Senior Reporter

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Deputy Commissioner of Police Suzette Martin says the T&T Police Service has launched a probe into how a vehicle was stolen from the Arima Police Station.

Speaking briefly with Guardian Media last night, Martin said the matter will be looked into and depending on the initial outcome, she is also prepared to ask the Professional Standards Bureau PSB to get involved.

Martin was commenting on the fact that a Toyota Raize was stolen from the station last week and was subsequently used by criminals who were involved in a shootout with police in Tacarigua.

The SUV was initially found abandoned along Antigua Road, Wallerfield, on August 1 and was impounded and taken to the police station, only to be stolen.

The vehicle was then spotted along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Arouca, on Wednesday afternoon. Police reported that officers pursued the vehicle and the driver eventually drove onto Golden Grove Road, Tacarigua.

A passenger then reportedly pointed a gun at the officers, who opened fire, fatally injuring the driver while the passenger escaped.

Police sources said officers at the Arima station no longer conduct compound sentry duties, which effectively is guarding the perimeter of the station and making regular checks. This, they say, may be the reason the vehicle was so easily stolen from the compound.

This is not the first time a vehicle has been stolen from a police station. In 2018, hours after police recovered a Kia Sportage belonging to former CNC3 news anchor Khamal Georges, the vehicle was removed from the compound of the Besson Street Police Station.

Police said then that the bandit took a spare key and left with the SUV, which was later found with false number plates at Roget Place, St Barb’s, Belmont, by Port-of- Spain Division Task Force officers.

Georges reported the vehicle stolen after he was robbed at gunpoint outside his St James home after returning from a CPL match at the Queen’s Park Oval.

The Inter-Agency Task Force found the car hours later at Bath Street, East Port-of-Spain and had it impounded to Besson Street Station.

This caused then acting police commissioner Stephen Williams to apologise to Georges.