Off-duty cop shoots at bandits after Tunapuna restaurant robbery

An off-duty policeman confronted bandits who robbed two people at a restaurant in Tunapuna on Wednesday morning.

Police said three bandits stormed the restaurant, D Rite Flava, on Lashley Street, Tunapuna, at around 9.20 am.

During the robbery the bandits beat a 47-year-old man and stole his cellphone, $4,800 cash and the keys to his Kia 2700 van.

The bandits then went to the kitchen area of the restaurant and demanded a worker to hand over the money.

The worker was about to take the bandits to where the money was kept when they left the kitchen and drove off in the man's van, using the keys they stole.

An off-duty policeman was walking nearby and heard the commotion as he saw the bandits in the van driving towards him.

The policeman saw one of the bandits pointing a gun at him as he shot at them using his police-issued pistol.

No one was wounded, as the bandits escaped.

Tunapuna police visited the scene and found 11 spent shells.

Officers of the North Central Division Task Force later found the stolen van abandoned on the Eastern Main Road in Tacarigua.