Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Urges for Safe Transactions, Arrests one in robbery case

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is advising members of the public to transact business at safe spaces, which include police stations. They further urged residents to ensure that payments made or received are bona fide before releasing goods for sale.

In one instance reported in Port of Spain on Monday, a suspect was held, and stolen products were recovered.

The TTPS stated that personnel from the Port of Spain Task Force were on mobile patrol duty when they responded to information that two people were at a gas station on the corner of Oxford and Charlotte Street, Port of Spain, to sell an iPhone 15. Reportedly, the transaction was agreed to with a potential buyer from Facebook Marketplace.

Police reportedly told officers that a male had approached the passenger side of the vehicle, identified himself as the buyer, and begun examining the cell phone. He handed over a white envelope to the seller then, without hesitation, he forcibly ripped a phone from the seller’s hand – an iPhone 15 worth $7,500.

He also took another iPhone 15 of roughly equal value from another passenger in the car before fleeing south on Charlotte Street.

A party of officers responded and conducted a search of the area. While doing so, they encountered a man who fitted in the description of the culprit they were searching for and found the said two cell phones in his possession. The suspect was arrested and identified as a 29-year-old from East Dry River. He was conveyed to the Besson Street Police Station.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service further outlined that all transactions should be carried out in a safe, secure place, ideally at a police station, so as to curb incidents like these. Instructing the sellers not to release their items until they were contented that payment had been made so they do not fall prey to the very same ilk of crime.

Arrest and recovery of stolen items only go further to support the message of TTPS’s commitment to public safety and responsiveness against criminal activities. The public is hereby enjoined to be vigilant and where needed, take necessary precautions in transacting business, especially those arranged through online platforms.