St. John’s Antigua- A Villa couple is thanking God for spared lives following a harrowing ordeal in which three armed criminals, clad in military style uniforms, bound, gagged and robbed them.

Aubrey and Pamela Dundas, a very religious couple, said they were leaving a Creekside Farm when the masked men emerged from the bushes shouting “Police! Police!”

Shocked and confused, the husband and wife said they immediately co-operated with the robbers who threatened to shoot if they resisted.

“We prayed right through it. It was a frightening experience but we are happy to be alive,” the husband said in an interview yesterday.

The attack started at 7:30 pm Monday and lasted about 45 minutes, the couple said. Two of the robbers were armed with handguns while the third accessory had a shotgun.

“They were in army clothing and boots and they told us they were police. They asked us many, many questions. They wanted to know why we were there on the farm; who we were with and if we had any money,” the husband said.

The man said he was so stunned at first, he believed the men were law enforcement officers. However, when he and his wife were ordered to lie on the ground, it hit home they were victims of criminals.

“They told us not to move. One of them said he’d shoot but the one who appeared to be the leader told us to remain calm, but he told us he would shoot us if it became necessary,” the 52-year-old man said.

Aubrey said he and his 48-year-old wife followed all orders even when he was told not to move while lying in an ant’s nest and being stung about the body.

“I was trying to tell them I was in the nest and the ants were stinging my upper body but they were not concerned about that,” the man said.

The robbers then asked Pamela to open the couple’s Suzuki Grand Vitara jeep but when the remote failed because the back rear door was open, the bandits struck her in the face with a gun.

“The vehicle cannot open with the remote when the door is open so when she couldn’t get it open for them they probably thought she was trying to trick them and one of them hit her in the face and burst her mouth,” the man recounted sadly.

In the meantime, he sustained multiple stings about the chest, abdominal area, back and neck.

The thieves bound the couple’s hands and feet and further tied the husband to the wife and left them in the dark on the farm.

The criminals drove away in the victims’ car that was recovered in Gray’s Farm later that same night.

The $600 and cellular phone the couple had in the car were removed.

The driver’s side, the passenger side, rear and glove compartment were badly damaged.

“They left us there but after about 10 minutes we managed to free ourselves and seek help in the area. The police who came responded quickly and we later went to the hospital,” the man said.

Lawmen issued a public appeal asking for assistance in solving the crime and people are urged to report anything they know to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at 462-3913/14 or Crime Stoppers at 800 TIPS (8477).

 

Tags: aubrey and pamela dundas | bound and gagged | robbery