The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHAPA) is planning on beefing up security following an attempted robbery at its headquarters.
At approximately 12:50pm on Thursday, a man was caught on surveillance camera assaulting a female employee while apparently trying to rob the government facility on Lower All Saints Road.
In a press release issued yesterday, Mark Richards, the Housing Executive Officer at CHAPA, confirmed the man was armed and said he was grateful no employees or customers were injured.
He explained that the swift response and bravery demonstrated by staff, coupled with existing security measures, played a crucial role in averting the robbery.
Richards says CHAPA will be enhancing its security measures, and he also thanked the police and Minister Maria Browne and her staff for their prompt response to the incident.
The surveillance video that is now in circulation shows the man entering the building and the woman closing the door behind him.
The man then held onto the woman who was seemingly trying to escape from him. But he pulled her by her shirt to another area of the building.
He later released her and made attempts to leave the building but re-entered and tried to get hold of the woman again.
She managed to run from him, then he opened a door which seemed to lead to the front desk area, but quickly exited after the woman managed to slip out of the entrance door.
The assailant then immediately exited the building behind the woman.
Inspector Frankie Thomas told Observer, “One of the workers raised an alarm and the suspect fled the scene. He was wearing a green shirt and a pair of black pants, white hat on his head and a camouflage material concealing his face. He was also armed with what appeared to be a firearm. No one was injured or anything reported stolen.”
He added, “The police are appealing to anyone who may have seen anyone fitting that description in the area around that time to contact the Criminal Investigations Department at 462-3913 or call Crimestoppers’ hotline number at 800-Tips (8477).”