Two men were on Monday remanded to prison for the series of armed robberies committed around Georgetown and the East Coast of Demerara, including the abduction of a taxi driver and shooting at the police.
Emmanuel Hale, 18, and Hamza Samuels called Bad Coolie, 32, both residents of ‘B’ Field Sophia, appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The pair was slapped with two counts of robbery, discharging a loaded firearm at police, and one count of simple larceny.
Particulars of the first charge alleged that on August 19, at Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, the men discharged a loaded firearm at the police with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or cause grievous bodily harm.
The second charge alleged that on August 18, at Kitty, while being armed with a gun, they robbed Ershad Mohammed of a haversack and other items totalling $310,000.
The third charge alleged that on the same date, at Thomas Land, the duo, while being armed with a gun, and in the company of others, robbed Brindsley Thom of two cell phones, a wallet and cash, totalling $253,000.
The last charge alleged that on the same date, at Longden Street, Hale and Samuels stole a black bag, a cell phone, local and foreign currency totalling $89,500, the property of Jomo Angus.
The pair was not required to plead to the charges since the Administration of Justice Act was not applied. Magistrate Daly remanded Hale and Samuels to prison until November 14.
The men were then transported to the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court and hauled before Magistrate Rushelle Liverpool on a series of charge, including abduction.
The first charge alleged that Hale and Samuels on August 18, at Ogle, while being in the company of others, robbed Madan Ramdeo of a cell phone and cash totalling $73,000.
It is further alleged that on the same date, at Red Road Sophia, they robbed Jenny Mingo of $293,000 in items.
The third charge alleged that also on the same date, at Vryheid’s Lust, ECD, they robbed Joshua Singh of his $1.7M Allion motorcar, along with his cellphone and cash.
The men were also charged for abducting Singh during the robbery with intent to cause him to be secretly confined.
The fifth charge alleged that on June 26, at Sophia, the pair robbed George Grey of a quantity of personal items totalling $895,000.
It is further alleged that on June 12, at Sparendaam Housing Scheme, while being armed with a cutlass, they robbed Royston Adams of a Taurus pistol, ammunition, and other items totalling $1.4M.
Samuels was separately charged for allegedly robbing Collin Robinson of $944,000 at gunpoint on July 24, at ‘B’ Field Sophia.
It is further alleged that Hamza on July 31, at Cummings Park, Sophia, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun robbed Angela Delayra of $1.9M in items.
Meanwhile, Hale was separately charged for attempting to rob Ezra Roberts on July 31.
The men pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, except the abduction charge which is indictable.
Magistrate Liverpool remanded the duo to prison until October 7.
Hale and Samuels were among four bandits nabbed by police officers during a robbery spree which eventually led to them trading bullets with the police.
The other bandits are allegedly Rawle Franklyn called Rawle Dog, Andrew Newyear called Blackboy and Romario Hudson called Mario.
Newyear subsequently died while receiving treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), while Franklyn is still receiving treatment for his injuries.
Police are still on the hunt for Hutson.
According to the release, Hale was working at the Dawn Cari Hotel and at about 18:00hrs on August 18, the other men came to pick him up.
They all got into Hudson’s car and travelled to Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara.
There, Franklyn, Hudson and Samuels, all armed with handguns, exited Hudson’s car and went towards Singh’s white motorcar that was parked with the windows down.
Singh, who was inside the car, was held at gunpoint and subsequently placed into the trunk.
The men then joined the motorcar and proceeded to ‘B’ Field Sophia. Newyear and Hale followed behind in Hudson’s car.
On arrival at Sophia, they handed over Hustson’s car to someone identified as “Foxy”. Hale and Newyear then joined the hijacked car and the entire group drove to 10th Street Cummings Lodge, where they robbed another man.
The group then proceeded to Airstrip Road, Ogle, where they held Ramdeo at gunpoint and relieved of cash and cellular phones.
Later, the men went to Campbellville and allegedly robbed a 43-year-old businessman of Toronto, Canada, who was at the time sleeping in a motor car PAB 8078. The men then took out a haversack containing money, a cell phone and a passport.
After that, the men proceeded to Lamaha Street, Queenstown, where they held a man at gunpoint and relieved him of a cellular phone and $25,000 cash.
The group then proceeded to the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) in search of more targets.
While in the vicinity of Houston, EBD, however, they saw a police patrol and they drove to Agricola to evade the police.
Shortly after, it was reported that the men attempted to return to Georgetown. They were, however, intercepted by police officers at Hunter Street and Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, in the vicinity of DSL.
There, the vehicle crashed into a rail and the men were subsequently arrested by officers in the wee hours of August 19.
Investigation into other robbery allegations against Hale and Samuels are currently ongoing.
