It's a home-slash-business invasion that turned into a southside hostage situation, and, tonight, police are preparing charges for 3 men.
It all unfolded around 9:00 last night at '7 Days Store' on Mahogany Street.
Business owners, 58 year old Rong Bin Liang, and his wife, 57 year old Hefu Rong Liang, were closing shop when the 3 men jumped over the wall and held them up.
They pushed the couple inside the building where the men tied them up and beat them up, while the men prepared to ransack their home. But the crime in progress was foiled by police - which led to a standoff. And it was the new Commissioner himself who stepped onto the front line to negotiate with the armed burglars. Here's more:...
K9, Special Patrol Unit and other members of the police department lingered in front of "7 Days" shop on Mahogany Street today;
The remnants of a situation that unfolded last night. Around 9:30 pm police responded to a burglary in progress.
The two Chinese proprietors had beaten and tied but somehow managed to escape.
Chester Williams- Police Commissioner
"About 10 minutes of being there, we saw the 2 proprietors Mr. and Mrs. Liang rushing out of the building. They were injured and bleeding and had duck tape on their mouths. They were pulled to safety at which time they told us that their 16 year old daughter was still inside the building. The building was locked and so I directed the Gang Suppression Unit to get the breaching equipment so that we can breach the door and go in."
The situation almost turned deadly when the burglars opened fire. The situation was even more dire because the daughter of the proprietors was still trapped inside.
Chester Williams - Police Commissioner
"I saw a male person went to the verandah of the building, the upper flat of the building and pointed a firearm in our direction and fired 2 shots. Thankfully neither of us were caught. We ran and we took cover behind a nearby house as well as our vehicles that were parked in the area."
The police commissioner's intervention proved to be a key element to arrest the situation. A two hour standoff with him resulted in the would-be burglars' surrender.
Now Williams says the work of the police is commendable.
Chester Williams- Police Commissioner
"I made a call to one of them and that call led to me having a back and forth with the individual trying to get him to surrender. The thing is that we had to be very cautious as the daughter was still in the building and we didn't want to do anything that would have caused them to injure or kill the little girl and so the negotiation lasted for about 20 minutes at which time they all agreed that they are going to surrender. So I directed them to go on the verandah near the burglar bar where we can see each of them and their hands. They did that and after that was done we breach the building, we went in and the suspects were caught."
Police named the three individuals detained that night: 26 year old Richard O'Neal, 25 year old Wayne Welch and 25 year old Steven Bernard; all of Tibruce and Jasmine Street Area - not far from the store. Meanwhile the two middle-aged Chinese proprietors continue to receive medical attention and are said to be in a stable condition. The silver-lining in this situation is that the teenage girl was unharmed after she hid in her room during the entire ordeal.
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