2017 Lusignan prison escapee among 3 Guyanese arrested in Suriname

After managing to evade law enforcement for more than three years, a 2017 prison escapee was apprehended by police in Suriname on Thursday for being part of a three-man gang suspected of attempted robbery.

The Korps Politie Suriname posted on its Facebook page that Paul Goriah along with two other men, believed to be Guyanese, were arrested separately on June 4 and 5 by the West Department Police for an attempted theft through assault on May 27 of this year.

The other two men are Krisshaun D., 21, and Gordon, L., 54. The Surinamese authority reported that Goriah identified himself as Kevin Smit, which is believed to be an alias.

The men are accused of attempting to rob a family in the Nickerie district which is Suriname’s closest point to Guyana.

The Korps Politie explained that while one of the family member was busy in the kitchen, a man forced his way into the house through the kitchen door.

“He was armed with a hammer and hit his victim in the head with it. The victim started screaming with the result that her roommates came to her help,” the Police reported.

The statement further added that the suspect with the hammer fled, along with another man who is believed to be his accomplice. The three men were subsequently arrested and Krisshaun and Kevin (Goriah) have since confessed.

Gordon, L. was later released by detectives.

Korps Politie was keen to add in its statement that: “It is worth mentioning that Kevin is wanted by the Guyanese police on suspicion of murder. The first and last name he has given up at the Surinamese police are fake. He said his name is Kevin Smit while his name is Paul, Goriah. He must have fled from a penal system in Guyana.”

On July 9, 2017, Goriah escaped from the Georgetown Prison at Camp Street but was recaptured soon after and sent to the Lusignan Prison. By July 24, he made a second escape, along with 12 others, by digging a 55-feet hole under the fence.

Goriah, whose last address is Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara (EBD), was one of four men who had been charged and remanded to prison for the murder of remigrant agriculturist Anthony Breedy.

Breedy was discovered dead in his Soesdyke, EBD home in March of 2016.