‘Stealing is a job, I have to live’

… Chain snatcher tells court

A man who reportedly claimed that stealing was a job and he has to make a living, did not cater for the police when he snatched a gold chain and tried to escape yesterday.
Joseph George, called ‘Bounty Killa’, a resident of the Buxton/Vigilance community, was captured by two alert police ranks on patrol in the village after he fled from a minibus following the commission of the act, around 10:00 hours yesterday.
Police said that George is a known character who would normally prey on passengers in minibuses coming from Berbice.
Yesterday he attempted the same scheme but his luck ran out. According to reports George joined the bus in Berbice and travelled with the other passengers en route to the city.
But as the bus was passing through the East Coast of Demerara he signaled it to stop in the vicinity of Brusche Dam, Friendship.
As he was about to exit the bus, George reportedly snatched a chain from the neck of one of the passengers who he had already sized up during the trip.
He then made a dash for freedom which was cut short by the alert ranks who responded to the cries for help from the passengers.
“All we hear was dem passengers hollering, “Officer, officer a man just get rob’ and they show we a man in a red jersey and blue pants running though Brusche Dam,” one of the ranks was overheard telling his colleagues.
The man was cornered and he meekly surrendered to the ranks, who had chased after him. The stolen gold chain was recovered.