According to reports coming out of a media house in St. Martin, four men, one of whom is said to be from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, attempted to rob the Scotia Bank branch located at Simpson Bay.
The incident occurred on Friday, June 09, 2017 at 9:00 am and resulted in the arrest of all four men, with one being shot in the arm and another injuring himself as he attempted to flee from the police.
This is according to 721News, which stated that the ‘would-be’ robber who was shot is allegedly from St. Kitts and goes by the last name ‘Otto’.
According to the official police report, the 911 Emergency Dispatch received several calls of an armed robbery at Scotia Bank in Simpson Bay involving several men. The calls which came in also gave descriptions of the suspects and the type of vehicles they were driving.
Immediately several police patrols were dispatched to the scence. At the bank, the investigating officers learned that the suspects had gained access to the bank, while threatening everyone in the bank. They had also stolen an undisclosed amount of cash.
Off-duty police officers, who were also following the messages from the dispatch center, got involved in the search for the vehicles and the suspects involved in the robbery.
Shortly after, one of the suspect’s vehicle (a silver colored Hyundai Accent without any license plate) was spotted by police driving through Simpson Bay. A high-speed chase immediately followed, at which time the suspects abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot.
A foot chase followed on the Simpson Bay Beach, following which one of the suspects pulled a high powered assault rifle from under his shirt and aimed it at the officer in pursuit. This left the officer no other choice that to fire directly at the suspect.
The suspect dropped his weapon and continued to flee but had to stop because he had been shot. The suspect was immediately arrested. While fleeing from police the suspects also dropped a .45 caliber handgun.
The rifle that the suspect had in his possession was identified as an AK-47. Both weapons were confiscated for further investigation.
The suspect, in this case, was treated on the scene by paramedics and then transported to the Sint Maarten Medical Center for further treatment.
The search for the other suspects turned into a massive operation in the Simpson Bay and Cole Bay areas, and consisted of police patrols, Customs Department, Coast Guard and the Gendarmes on the French. Due to the great working cooperation between these departments, within less than half an hour, the three other suspects were also arrested and a bag containing a large amount of cash was found and confiscated.
The police chief Carl John was very proud and commended his police officers for a job well done and for demonstrating their professionalism. The Police Chief also thanked all other organizations that were involved in the operation for their tremendous input and is looking forward to taking the working cooperation to the highest level.
The investigation continues.
