COLE BAY--The quick actions of a caller who described an armed robbery suspect helped police arrest a man J.H. for the armed robbery of a Chinese restaurant on Union Road.
A man wearing a mask and dressed in black entered the restaurant around 8:10pm Tuesday. He was brandishing a machete and demanded that workers hand over the establishment’s daily earnings.
He successfully robbed the restaurant of an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the scene on foot. While fleeing, the robber damaged a vehicle parked outside the establishment with his machete.
“Based on the description given to the police dispatch centre after the robbery had taken place, an officer in the vicinity was able to recognise the suspect and quickly apprehend him,” said police in a press release on Wednesday.
After his arrest, H. was taken to the Philipsburg police station, where he is being held pending further investigation.
Police said the investigation into this armed robbery is still ongoing. It is yet undetermined whether H. is connected to other recent armed robberies.
“The St. Maarten Police Force would like to commend the caller in this case for a job well done in providing the descriptive details needed to swiftly apprehend the suspect,” said police.
Police have made a video explaining the type of information one should give dispatch centre personnel that can help officers to quickly apprehend a suspect. The video can be found pinned to the top of police’s Facebook page “Police Force of Sint Maarten – Korps Politie Sint Maarten”.
“[The video – Ed.] might one day be of a great assistance, not only to us as law enforcers, but also to help protect yourself, by having one less suspect on the loose,” said police.
