A machete wielding 20-year-old Rufino Sho pulled off a daring armed robbery of a well known Belmopan businessman on Monday morning, but thanks to the quick work of the community and police, he was captured after only seven minutes on the run.
At 8:10, Sho allegedly approached Chinese businessman De Cai Liu, known as Lui De Cai, the owner of Francisco Store, who was about to enter the Atlantic Bank branch at the Garden City Plaza to make a deposit. Sho allegedly chopped Liu and then grabbed the deposit bag in which there was reportedly more than $34,000. With machete in hand, he then fled with Liu in pursuit, reportedly firing shots from his licensed nine millimeter “glock” pistol.
Delvin “Peely” Galvez just happened to be in the area at the time and saw Sho fleeing with the money bag. He joined the pursuit and followed Sho. The chase continued for one third of a mile, with Sho desperately fleeing on foot through a bushy area, Galvez pursuing him on bike, and Liu following in his vehicle. Sho was finally cornered in an area behind A&R Store which is where the deposit bag with all thirty four plus thousand dollars was retrieved from him.
During the incident, Sho was shot in the right groin area which exited the right side of his buttocks and fractured his right pelvis. He was taken to the Belmopan Hospital and later transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he was hospitalized under police guard. He will be charged for robbery after his release from the hospital. Liu received chop wounds to the right forearm and a small wound on the right forehead. He was treated and released from the Belmopan Hospital. Police has no intentions to charge Liu for shooting Sho.
The Officer in Charge of the Belmopan Police Superintendent Aaron Guzman says the quick arrest was a result of close community and police partnership.
