Officers from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) have located the vehicle used by four armed robbers on Friday morning to escape the scene after robbing the Aladdin Store on Flemming Street in Road Town, Tortola.

A video shared with this news agency shortly after midday on February 9 showed officers collecting evidence from the car used in the robbery.

Sources revealed that investigators discovered two different number plates on the car suspected to have been stolen. The vehicle has been taken into police custody for thorough examination by investigators.

In the meantime, the pursuit continues for the armed suspects, who carried out the daring raid at Aladdin Store, known for retailing branded merchandise including jewellery and bags, shortly after 10 am on February 9.

The bandits discharged shots into the air in the lively Road Town shopping square, causing alarm among residents in nearby buildings and on the street, with no reported injuries.
Police were summoned as the robbery was unfolding.

Eyewitnesses’ videos show four bandits clad entirely in black and shrouded in hoods concealing their faces fleeing the scene.

One suspect was wielding what seemed to be a semi-automatic gun at the store’s entrance.

The specifics regarding the quantity of stolen merchandise remain undisclosed.

RVIP in a statement confirmed the holdup and added that an investigation has been launched.

This is the second daytime heist in Road Town in less than a year. On July 1, 2023, a pair of armed and masked individuals dressed in all white robbed a jewellery store in the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park.

Both men fled towards the parking lot, firing several shots in the air before absconding with a quantity of the store’s merchandise.

Subsequently, Shamul Mitchell, 35, of Sand Box Road, and Jelani Marquis, 27, of Hannahs Estate, both on Tortola, were apprehended and charged with robbery and possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

They are currently on remand in prison.