Quick Police Work Leads to Detention of 4 Suspects in Home Invasion

The police department says it has successfully cracked a case involving four armed thieves who broke into a residence in West Landivar on Tuesday morning.  The aggravated assault against Melinda Guerra and Maria Reyes netted the robbers a tidy sum, as well as a Toyota Hilux that is believed to have been driven across the western border into Guatemala sometime yesterday evening.  This morning Commissioner of Police Chester Williams provided an update which includes the arrest of four suspects.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Isansi Cayetano, Reporting

Diligent police work during the past twenty-four hours has resulted in the detention of several men who are suspects in an aggravated burglary at the home of two well-known medical practitioners on Tuesday morning. The Chancellor Avenue residence of Nurse Melinda Guerra and Dr. Maria Reyes was teeming with investigators yesterday, in the wake of a home invasion that took place just before dawn.  Commissioner of Police Chester Williams has provided an update on where the police department is with its probe into the incident.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Yesterday afternoon, a suspect was detained and his home was searched and police found some items that were stolen from that home invasion. Police also found twenty, nine millimeter rounds of ammunition and clothing that resembles that which the complainant said the robber or one of the robbers was wearing when they committed the crime.”

Guerra’s property is fully fenced, the windows are also protected by burglar bars and, as an added measure of security, there are three dogs that roam the yard. It is believed that the culprits entered the home from the neighbor’s backyard and proceeded to lock the dogs in another section of the property.

Melinda Guerra, Victim of Aggravated Burglary

“Yes, we do have three dogs but the dogs did not bark.  Actually, they locked the dogs, on one side of the house we have a gate, so they locked the dogs and the dogs did not bark. So that’s the only form of security that we have, and the burglar bars.”

The description of the suspects, based on what they were wearing, also proved useful to detectives. Only several hours after the commission of the crime, police were able to round up three others whose attire matched the type of clothing described by Guerra.

Chester Williams

“Last night, we detained three other suspects and again, at the home of one of those suspects, clothing that resemble what one of the other robbers was wearing was also found. So the investigators are going through the evidence to see how we can put it together and hopefully between today and tomorrow we will be bringing charges against those persons who are responsible.”

Stolen along with a substantial amount of cash in U.S. currency, was a 2019 Toyota Hilux. The late model vehicle belongs to Dr. Maria Reyes. Before leaving, the gang of thieves demanded that Guerra show them how to operate the garage door.

Melinda Guerra

“They came in from like a quarter to five and they left like ten minutes to six, that’s because I heard one of them saying that they had to leave before six.  And that’s when they came downstairs and they asked me how to open the garage door, you know. They got hold of the keys for the Toyota Hilux and they left with the vehicle.”

According to ComPol Williams, they were led to an area where the stolen vehicle had been placed out of sight, before subsequently being driven across the western border to Melchor. They did not arrive at that location in time to retrieve the pickup truck.

Chester Williams

“One of the burglars took us to a location where he said that they had hidden the Hilux before it would have gone over to Guatemala for sale. But when we got to the location, only the tracks were seen and apparently the vehicle had already been taken over to Guatemala and so we are liaising with our Guatemalan counterparts to see what can be done from that side to locate and return the vehicle to Belize.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.