A US couple were on honeymoon in Cable Beach when they were tied up and robbed inside their vacation home.
Leah Schmidt and her husband, Matthew Rutledge, were sleeping in their vacation rental when two men broke in. The couple were tied up, with tape covering their eyes and mouths, while thieves took whatever valuables they could find.
Emily Mountney, of The Belleville Intelligencer/QMI Agency, reported that the couple left Boston on July 16 for a two-week long honeymoon in the Bahamas, staying near Cable Beach.
On July 28, the couple had taken a boat tour out to Exuma. They arrived home, made dinner and later went to bed.
Mr Rutledge said all the doors were locked.
He told Ms Mountney: “We woke up in the middle of the night with these two guys in the bedroom with us.”
The couple were told to turn over and lie face down while their arms and legs were taped. Their eyes and mouths were also taped with duct tape, The Belleville Intelligencer reported.
“When it first started, I just told Leah just to do whatever they say.”
They untaped Rutledge’s mouth once they found his wallet and demanded to know the pin numbers for all credit and debit cards. They held a gun to his back, Ms Mountney reported.
The thieves continued to search the rooms, taking anything of value they could find. At one point they moved Leah to another room.
When they left, they yelled to the couple that they were leaving one person behind while another went to check and make sure the cards worked with the pin numbers.
“After about 15 or 20 minutes I didn’t hear anyone moving around so I yelled out to Leah. She got out of her ties and came and untied me,” said Mr Rutledge.
The thieves also stole cash, the couple’s wedding bands and Schmidt’s engagement ring, an e-reader, a Sony DSC digital camera, GoPro Camera accessories, sunglasses and a watch.
The couple notified the landlord of the property, who called the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
After giving their statements to the police, the owners of the rental property checked the couple into a room at the nearby Hilton hotel.
Mr Rutledge told The Belleville Intelligencer/QMI Agency that once they received the police report, it was riddled with mistakes.
They received the report on July 29 which they say was prepared by Paul Rolle, through Monique Brooks, the vice consul, Embassy of Canada, via e-mail.
The couple found errors in the police report including the date of the robbery, the nationality of the couple, the order of events that took place, the items stolen and who reported the robbery to the police, Emily Mountney reported.
On July 30, Mr Rutledge said he received a call from a Ministry of Tourism representative to offer her condolences and confidence that the culprits will be caught.
The couple left the Bahamas on July 30 and have provided additional information to the police, including dates and times that each credit and debit card was attempted at ATM so that police could capture video footage of the culprits.
Mr Rutledge told Ms Mountney: “It sounds like, from the latest feedback we’ve got, is that they (the suspects) are connected with another armed robbery. They’re not giving us many details, but it sounds like they know more than what they’ve communicated with us.”
“We just want to put pressure on them to continue the investigation. It’s frustrating that it’s not moving as fast as it would have if it were here.”
“Leah and I wanted people to know what happened to us, we don’t want fellow Canadians and Americans to go down there and think everything’s safe. I’m sure there are lots of people who go down there and don’t have a problem. Especially people who never leave the resorts, they never see Bahamian culture. But those people who really want to see more of the culture, we want them to know what could potentially happen to them.”
Source: The Tribune
August 2, 2013
