GREAT BAY – The Court in First Instance will handle the trial against two men who have been charged with eleven armed robberies on May 18. Yesterday the suspects, Orlando Tovian G. (27) and Kendy P. (24) appeared in court for a pro forma hearing.
The public prosecutor told reporters that the two defendants are actually suspected of committing an astonishing number of 29 armed robberies, but that his office had decided to charge them only with the eleven cases with the strongest evidence. During several of the robberies, the men used violence against their victims.
Between July 27 2016 and October 18 2016 the defendants allegedly committed eleven robberies, whereby they grabbed in total $8,210 from their victims.
The targets of these robberies were the Old tree Peaking seafood Restaurant, the Wang Jiao supermarket, the Fresh Pond supermarket, the Wah Yun supermarket, the Well Luck supermarket, the Texaco Star Mart, the Quality Food supermarket, the Best Food supermarket, the Subway on the Walter Nisbeth Road and the Welcome supermarket.
Attorney Shaira Bommel asked the court to terminate or suspend the pre-trial detention of her client Orlando G. He is currently not detained, but the prosecutor’s office obtained a ruling from the appeals court that orders him back into detention. The court verbally informed Bommel about the decision.
“I have the impression from the dossier that there is a serious suspicion,” the judge said. “There are therefore serious objections and that makes it rather difficult to say that it is important for you to keep your job. Considering the state of affairs the situation is serious enough to let the interest of the prosecution prevail.”
