In less than 24 hours, the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Metropolitan Police of the Northern Division has identified the two perpetrators of the robbery perpetrated at the PS Patten jewelry store at Rue La Reine, Port-Louis, where jewelry and the sum of Rs 45 000 were taken. The total amount is estimated at Rs 4 193 900. These police officers were quick to catch Jean Nicolas Jérôme Lajoie, a 38 year old scaffolding worker living in Batterie-Cassée, Roche-Bois. He was identified as the one carrying a white raffia bag filled with jewelry. He was in the company of Joanito Anglae, a 36 year old notorious recidivist, that Friday morning of January 7. Joanito Anglae is the alleged mastermind of this robbery.
After this armed robbery committed in this jewelry store, the police of the Metropolitan Police of the Northern Division set in motion a whole machinery to track down the two authors of this most audacious robbery. In addition to a work of intelligence, the investigators of the CID have viewed the images of the surveillance cameras of Safe City to follow the routes of a white scooter on which the two thugs have driven.
Thus, on the evening of Friday, January 7, a raid was conducted at the home of Antonio Patrick Anglae, a 32-year-old butcher, at Nicolay Road, St. Croix by men of the CID, led by Inspector Seelochun and Sergeant Gujadhur, elements of the Field Intelligence Office with the assistance of the Marcoss commandos of the National Coast Guard, under the supervision of Assistant Superintendent of Police, Aniff Thug. This exercise resulted in the discovery of a quantity of dry leaves suspected to be cannabis. Antonio Anglae had to admit that this drug is for his own consumption. He and his partner were taken to the CID office for questioning regarding the robbery at the PS Patten jewelry store on Rue La Reine, Port Louis until 1:00 AM on Saturday, January 8th.
Both Antonio Anglae and his partner stated that Joanito Anglae and another individual came to their home on the morning of Friday, January 7, around 9:00 AM. They stayed only about ten minutes before leaving on a white scooter. Antonio Anglae explained that his brother Joanito and this man had returned to his home at around 10:40 am the same day. They identified Jean Nicolas Jérôme Lajoie as the person who was in company of Joanito and it is this same person who carried the bag full of jewels. Antonio Anglae and his companion say that they asked Joanito where he had found the jewelry and he answered “finn kokin dan enn bizouteri Port-Louis”.
The two men left after putting the stolen loot in a backpack. While Antonio Anglae’s girlfriend was released after her interrogation, Antonio Anglae was placed in a cell at the Vacoas detention center. On the morning of January 8, he was brought before the Bail and Remand Court (BRC) in Port-Louis, where he is facing a provisional charge of harboring fugitives. Nicolas Lajoie was placed in the Alcatraz detention center at the Central Barracks. On Saturday morning, January 8, he was brought before the BRC where he is facing a provisional charge of theft with violence.
