Toco shopkeeper facing robbery charges

A Toco man is expected to appear before a Sangre Grande Magistrate on Monday charged with robbery with aggravation, possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a firearm and ammunition to endanger life, and discharging a firearm within 40 metres of a roadway.

A TTPS press release said Kristoff Mendoza, 30, of Three Quarter Mile Mark, Toco Main Road, Matura was charged on Saturday, following investigations by police.

The release added that on June 18, a 37-year-old man of Penal was attempting to turn his black Toyota Hilux vehicle along Orosco Road, Matura when two men alighted from a white ingle pick-up van and one of them pointed a gun at the victim.

The man became afraid, exited his Hilux and ran off.

One of the men jumped into the Hilux and the other into the Wingle and both drove off. The Eastern Division Task Force (Area North) officers were contacted and investigations were conducted by PC Amann.

As the investigation progressed, a search warrant was issued at the home of one of the suspects. The officers retrieved items of evidential value and on July 26, a man was arrested.