Rapist on the prowl in Hanover: Female ATM users targeted

No. 23 Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Women using ATMs in the parish of Hanover are being warned to be on the lookout for a miscreant who has reportedly been kidnapping and sexually assaulting female card holders.
So far, the ATM stalker is reported to have raped one woman while two others narrowly missed being abducted.
   It is understood that one woman of a Sandy Bay address was recently abducted by the accused who managed to drive her to an isolate area in a new housing development where he sexually molested her. The alleged rapist on two other occasions over the past week has managed to scare two other women after almost succeeding in kidnapping another in Lucea.
   On all three occasions, the rapist, who drives a white Toyota Corolla and is believed to be in his early thirties, has been stalking his victims whenever they go to draw cash from ATM's during the night hours in the Lucea and Hopewell communities.
   It is further understood that the rapist lurks in the area where the machine is located and chooses his victims carefully by acting as an ATM card holder. One woman, who narrowly missed being abducted, informed the reporter that after after visiting a machine located in the Hopewell Mart in close proximity to the Hopewell Service Station, she was approached by a man who started a conversation with her.
   According to her, it was about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and the complex was partially deserted. The man asked her where she was going and even offered to give her some cash from his card as he noticed she was having problems accessing her own. For a minute, she almost got deceived by the rapist but caught up upon herself after she noticed that he was acting as if he was in a hurry while saying that he did not want his cousin to come and see him at the machine.
   He informed the woman that he was from Lucea but could give her a lift back to her home in the Hopewell Housing Scheme. Luckily for her, Fate intervened when two young men from the community drove to the ATM machine and immediately the man without a word got in his car and drove away from the area.
   In another incident, he allegedly approached a female in Lucea informing her that he could give her a lift to Sandy Bay but also disappeared when another user of the machine came to the spot. The female who was raped is believed to receiving treatment at hospital.
   Meanwhile, the police are warning females not to visit the machines alone at nights and to be on the lookout for the thug who so far has managed to keep his identification a secret.