The men implicated in the Econo Supermarket robbery of July 2019 entering the Courthouse on Wednesday.
PHILIPSBURG--The Prosecutor’s Office demanded four years in prison for R.A.C.F. (27) and two years in prison for D.D.K. (30) during Wednesday’s sitting of the Court of First Instance, for their involvement in the attempted armed robbery of Econo Supermarket in Cay Hill on July 4, 2019.
This attempted robbery was high-profile, as it was foiled by an off-duty police officer who drew her service weapon and shot two of the robbers. One of them – Chadwyn Francis – later died of his injuries at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC).
According to the Prosecutor, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage depicts Francis and F. entering the supermarket around 8:00pm that night. F. was brandishing a Glock .380 calibre pistol while Francis went to the cashier and demanded that he open the register and give him the day’s earnings.
When the cashier did not move as quickly as Francis would have liked, he hit the cashier, said the Prosecutor.
An off-duty police officer was in the supermarket at the time of the robbery and drew her service weapon. According to the Prosecutor, she told the robbers, “Don’t move” and when they refused, she shot four times.
Two of those bullets struck Francis, mortally wounding him, while the other struck F. in his upper body.
The Prosecutor said that, although an investigation is pending on whether the officer’s use of force was indeed justified, the officer feared for her safety and that of others in the supermarket because one of the robbers had a gun while the other had already committed violence. “It is her duty to protect citizens,” said the Prosecutor.
F.’s lawyer Safira Ibrahim denied this interpretation of events, as her client maintains that the officer fired before identifying herself as a police officer. Ibrahim requested that her client receive an ample reduction in punishment, as he still suffers from physical and emotional trauma as a result of getting shot.
F. said he was sorry for his role in the crime and had simply made a bad decision that day. When the Judge asked him why he had helped to carry out the attempted robbery, as he had a job and had no previous criminal record, F. said he had arrived in St. Maarten not long before the robbery and was under pressure to send money home to help his family in St. Kitts. He said he had gotten the gun from Francis.
K. was implicated as the getaway driver in the attempted robbery and faces two years imprisonment. The Prosecutor said calls between K. and Francis corroborate this.
K.did not answer questions about his alleged involvement at the hearing and had not given any statements to police during the investigation.
The judge will render a verdict in this case on February 5.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/four-and-two-years-demanded-for-econo-supermarket-robbers
