Circus robbed of $30,000; manager to decide if it
Jensen La Vende
Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
The manager of the Suarez Brothers Circus is yet to decide if they will take Trinidad and Tobago off the list of destinations they perform in after being robbed on Tuesday night.
Police said at 8.10 pm, Ruben Suarez, along with other employees, was at the circus site along Endeavour Avenue, Chaguanas, when four gunmen in a white Nissan B15 drove in and began shooting.
The circus held its last show on Sunday and was already packed and awaiting transport to leave the country for Jamaica.
Police said Suarez was about to pay employees when the gunmen robbed him of $30,000, his passport and other personal documents, while two employees were robbed of $2,800 in total.
An employee said they all had to dive on the ground as the bandits shot in the air and on the ground as they entered.
Another employee said a worker was beaten with a gun butt after telling the bandits he did not speak English and could not understand what they were saying. In a telephone interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Suarez was asked if the circus would return to T&T.
“That (robbery) is something that cannot happen. This is a family entertainment, this could have happened during showtime when families were inside. This is something to think about,” he said.
Suarez said the compound was closed and usually there are police officers but on the night of the robbery, the security officers present were unarmed.
Commenting on the robbery, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally said the circus employees fell victim to the country’s spiralling out-of-control crime rate. He called on the National Security Ministry to do more.
“National security in our nation clearly appears to the criminals to be a complete clown show and which all citizens are forced to endure. While the actual circus troupe might know how to pull off a balancing act, the Government keeps dropping the ball on dealing with crime,” he said.
He called on politicians to unite to address crime.
“I again call on all politicians and stakeholders to put their egos aside and meet to collaborate in a meaningful way to deal with this epidemic of crime in our nation. It’s time to put Trinidad and Tobago first. It’s time to take back our country from this sad excuse of a clown show.”
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