PHILIPSBURG:--- On Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 at approximately 3.30 pm, the police patrol was sent to in Cole Bay for what the central dispatch explained was attempted robbery, but upon further investigation, it was discovered to be an escalated altercation then a robbery.
Officers arrived on the scene at Dr. Lasly Lago Street after receiving reports that two males dressed in an orange vest, cleaning the streets attempted to rob an individual in the neighborhood.
The resident was curious as to what the two males were busy doing in the vicinity and questioned why they were in front of her gate. For reasons still unclear to the officers, the resident was pushed to the ground by one of the road workers.
The male workers were later attacked by the resident’s dogs when they noticed that their owner had been attacked. They then fled the scene in an unknown direction once the dogs had begun to chase them.
The Special Unit Robbery looked into the other claims of robberies which were said to have taken place on various days through the month of May by males wearing an orange vest and no such reports or claims had been made to the police.
The Sint Maarten Police Force is currently aware of the information circulating through social media regarding a spree of robberies happening within the communities and would like to publicly dispel those rumors.
Officers were sent to the same location this morning, Wednesday 27th May, where a new set of workers were also cleaning the road as they were contracted to do.
We understand that social media is a means to bring fast awareness, but we are also pleading with the community to be careful of the news you spread/forward without concrete facts, as it might cause unnecessary panic within the communities.
Sint Maarten on a whole is already on high alert during this COVID-19 pandemic and false information helps feed into the stress. The detectives are currently still investigating the incident that took place in its entirety and is asking the public to allow us to do so; please cease from spreading nonfactual information as it creates more harm than good.
KPSM Press Release.
