Eleven days after Scotiabank employee Rostan Mahabir was almost killed during a robbery in San Fernando, his alleged attacker, Allister McDavid, appeared in court charged with robbery with violence.
Police said that Mahabir, who remained warded at the San Fernando General Hospital in a serious condition yesterday, expressed happiness when he was told that McDavid had been charged.
Officers also informed his colleagues at Scotiabank, San Fernando of the development.
McDavid, 30, a labourer of Fyzabad, appeared before San Fernando magistrate Alicia Chankar, who read the charge that on May 14, along Penitence Street, San Fernando, he was in possession of a firearm, which he used to rob Mahabir of a laptop bag valued $400 and a Lenovo laptop valued US$1,000, during which time, he used personal violence.
Court prosecutor Sgt Parsan Ramsumair informed the court that neither the stolen items nor the firearm was recovered.
McDavid, who was unrepresented, told the court that he had obtained the services of an attorney but she was not present in court and he could not remember her name. The matter was adjourned to June 22, in the San Fernando Second Court.
Initial reports stated Mahabir, 28, of Carapichaima was just about to enter the bank at the corner of High Street and Penitence Street where he worked as a premier relationship officer. It was just before 8 am when a man approached him and stole his laptop bag, shooting him in the process.
The suspect escaped and Mahabir was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery. Four days later, McDavid was arrested at a house in Fyzabad by South Western Division Police. He was transferred to the San Fernando CID where he was charged yesterday by Cpl Shaun Mohammed.