By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Hamilton, Nevis) ” Sometime in the early morning hours of Monday, Oct. 13, a pair of thieves quietly broke into the home of an elderly woman on Government Road and took their time looking for valuables ” while she lay awake in bed. Her small three-bedroom house is Spartan in its furnishings. A small television and a few knick knacks accessorize the living room. Simple, yet adequate furniture gives on the impression this should be no target for burglars. “I heard a click and saw a flash of light, but I thought the light was a car passing down the street, and then he was standing in my room,” she said. The only description she could give was that one was tall and the other was short. One came into her bedroom, searched through drawers in a bedside table only inches from where she lay, motionless and terrified. This thief even had the nerve to step up on the bed she where she lay to retrieve a box from on top of her closet. Tuesday Online Code for Issue # 729 is HOI Tuesday afternoon, the contents of that box- some personal papers of her son’s – were still on the floor outside her bedroom door. The police had asked her not to disturb anything as they may want to come back for further investigation. In a spare bedroom, she keeps a bag packed ready to travel with her clothes and a Bible. They searched that too. The thieves took the time to look through everything in her bathroom: medicine cabinets, cosmetic bags, etc, all while she lay in bed a few feet away, praying they would leave. The thieves opened every closet and went through all the clothes using a small flashlight or the light from a cell phone, not turning on any of the lights in the house. “I didn’t know if they had a gun or something else,” she said. “In these modern times, you never know.” Her son lives with her, but has been away. The criminals probably knew this, targeting the helpless old woman when she was most vulnerable. She said this was the first time anything like this had happened to her. She was born on Nevis, just down the road from her house, some 90 years ago. “In all my years, I have never had anything like this happen to me,” she said. This crime wasn’t the result of poor security measures on her part. The house was well-locked. To get in, first the thieves cut the screen to unlatch it. When they found the inner door locked as well, the thieves removed a pane of glass from a window and reached around to unlatch the inner door. Once inside, the robbers took their time. The most terrifying part of this for the victim was when the tall one was searching her bedroom. The victim kept a cool head, not panicking, which probably saved her from physical harm. “The thing that gets me is, he was in no hurry. He was taking his time as if the house was his- like he lived here,” she said. “The phone was lying right next to me and I thought of doing something or asking him what he’s doing in my house, but then the good spirit told me, “Just let him and keep calm.” So I just lay here, barely turning my head to watch him. He came right to the side of my bed, looking through everything standing right over me. I don’t even think I was breathing. He was moving so slowly, looking and looking, like he was looking for something very important, but I don’t know what it could have been. I just prayed to my creator to keep me safe.” No arrests have been made in this case. The robbers took cash, but left coin. They also took her savings account pass book. She has contacted the bank and reported the theft. She is uncertain what they may have taken from her son’s room until he returns to the island. In the meantime she has friends and another family member staying with her and checking on her regularly. The thieves used the bathroom, but did not flush and then helped them selves to a malt drink she had in the fridge. She is unsure when the thieves left, but she didn’t take any chances. She laid in bed motionless and wide awake until about 6 a.m. and then called her daughter. The police have confirmed the incident and said in the past couple of weeks they have had one report of a pair of burglars, one tall and one short doing something similar. The police also said there have been a couple of other burglaries in the Hamilton neighborhood in the past few weeks, but their mode of operation was different, so it is uncertain if those crimes were the work of the same men. Evidence was collected at the scene and is being compared to evidence taken from other burglaries.
