Minster’s Driver and Councilor Targeted in Armed Robbery

On Sunday, three armed men attempted a daring robbery, targeting the owner of a Toyota Hilux. The victim, Jody Adolphus, who is the driver for the Minister of Tourism, was parking his vehicle at home when the trio approached. One of the attackers reportedly assaulted him with a firearm before they sped off in the pickup truck. Fortunately, the police quickly intercepted the vehicle with the suspects still inside. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more details.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Police are currently investigating a robbery and assault that occurred on Sunday night at the home of Jody Adolphus, the driver for Minister Anthony Mahler. The incident took place in the Blackberry Ridge Estate in Burrell Boom. ACP Hilberto Romero has more on this developing story.

 

ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“On Sunday the twenty-fourth day of November 2024, around nine-thirty p.m., Jody Adolphus reported that he was driving a Toyota Hilux in the Black Berry area of Burrell Boom when he was approached by three make persons armed with firearms. They attacked him and hit him with one of the firearms and proceeded to steal the Toyota Hilux. Police responded to the report and came across the Hilux on the Burrell Boom Road where the vehicle was intercepted, and the vehicle came to a stop. The three male occupants ran away from the vehicle and made good their escape. The vehicle was processed, and we are seeking three suspects in regards to this robbery.”

We spoke with Burrell Boom village councilor, Ellis Metzgen about the incident. He mentioned that it was fellow councilor Robert Pinkard who alerted the police, as he was also reportedly targeted by the assailants.

 

Ellis Metzgen, Councilor, Burrell Boom

“They saw one of our fellow counselors going home that resides in Blackberry in a bus and attempted to rob him too. But he locked the door in time and reversed out of Blackberry, meanwhile, trying to call the authorities. And so the police they met the stolen vehicle going out and pursued it. And so the robbers ended up going off the side of the road and running into the bush. But it was actually the police that did the firing of weapons or whatever to I guess to scare these people to let them stop.”

 

The incident has alarmed long-time residents, who are now worried that the village’s peaceful atmosphere might be increasingly disrupted by newcomers.

 

Ellis Metzgen

“It’s been something that we’ve been talking about from the initial mentioning of the community, it’s good that we want to help and assist all these people, but at the same time the type of people that are coming into the community, it’s jeopardizing the peace of our community, we we’ve always been a peaceful community and more than eighty percent of the time, some things happen within our village. It’s not normal. With the people that live or reside here. It’s people that come from outside to do these type of things.”

 

Metzgen commends the police for their quick action in the incident and their continued protection of the community. Britney Gordon for News Five.