Police are yet to arrest anyone else for the robbery a Chinese businessman of $400,000 last week.
One suspect, a police officer assigned to the San Juan Sub Station, was arrested by detectives of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) at the station, hours after the robbery took place at the businessman’s home at Soledad Road, Claxton Bay, on Friday .
According to reports, shortly after midday last Thursday, a group of men dressed in police tactical clothing and in a marked police SUV, with the blue lights flashing, went to the man’s home.
CCTV footage of the incident, posted yesterday of the Facebook page of the T&T Police Service’s television show Beyond the Tape, showed the alleged officers arriving at the property and standing guard as the businessman, who operates a casino, opens the front door to let them in.
The short clip did not show when the businessman was allegedly beaten by the men or when the officers left the property with two bags allegedly containing cash that was found in a bedroom.
Two cellphones valued at $13,500 and a quantity of jewelery were also allegedly taken. The officers went on the pretext of executing a search warrant. A report was made to police and GPS tracking was used to identify the police vehicle used in the robbery.
Detectives of the PSB detained the suspect, who is said to be from Tobago, at the station on Friday and his photo was also posted on Facebook by Beyond the Tape. The suspect reported confessed to participating in the crime and identified his accomplices. He also reportedly handed over the stolen jewelery which he was storing in the station.
The suspect remained in custody up to late yesterday. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the other suspects, police said. Police were seen patrolling near the businessman’s home yesterday.
The businessman did not respond to calls at his front gate. A resident, who asked to remain unidentified, said that the businessman had been robbed before at the house last year.
“He moved out and then came back when the landlord put up the bared wire and the cameras right round the place,” the man said.