Recuperating from multiple chop and stab wounds, Pastor Junior Anderson yesterday called on police to bring his attackers to justice, saying they must pay the price for the merciless attack on his family.
Speaking from his hospital bed at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, Anderson, 62, who heads the World Outreach Life Changing Pentecostal Church in Palmiste, said although forgiveness was important, consequences were also important.
“Forgiveness is one thing but they must face the consequences. The law must take its course. Look what they do to me,” Anderson said, pointing to stab and chop wounds on his hands, back, neck and head.
“They must pay a price for what happened to me and my family.”
Apart from the wounds , a finger on Anderson’s left hand was also broken.
Happy to be alive but still distraught following the three-hour ordeal, he said the crime situation was unbearable.
“It is disgusting. Nobody walks the streets any more with confidence. We cannot live in our homes in peace. We always have to watch out.
“Somehow, the Commissioner of Police don’t have a good strategy to fight crime. We are not saying that police must be in every street corner. We are saying that the police must work harder to apprehend the perpetrators,” Anderson said.
Having spent most of his life helping criminals and the poor, Anderson said he will continue to work hard to make T&T a better place.
Anderson, his wife Anna, 66 and their son Michael, 32, were held under siege for three hours at their La Bel Air Road, La Romaine home on Tuesday morning.
Three bandits armed with cutlasses stormed their home seeking a vault which did not exist. They broke through the plastic panelled walls, overturned furniture and sifted through boxes of jewellery, after beating, chopping and stabbing the family. Everyone was hog-tied and gagged with pieces of a bed sheet while the thieves ransacked the home.
Anderson fought with one of the robbers to save his son and during the melee he suffered chops to his head and right foot. Michael suffered eight stab wounds and a chop to the head, while Anna suffered a swollen finger.
The thieves eventually stole $3,000 in cash, a gold chain with cross pendant valued at $15,000, a diamond ring valued at $20,000, a gold bera valued at $10,000, a gold ring valued at $2,000, $10,000 in perfume, a DVD player worth $300, two cellular phones worth $2,000 and two JVC televisions worth $8,000. They also escaped in the family’s Toyota Corolla, licensed PCT 8756 and valued at $190,000 and a Kia Sportage (PDC 9991) valued at $273,000.
Southern Division police said yesterday they believe criminals who have migrated from crime hotspots in North Trinidad may responsible for the recent spate of attacks on senior citizens in middle and upper class communities in south Trinidad.
