A taxi driver on Wednesday night reported to the police that he was hijacked and robbed by two men, one of whom he identified as prison escapee Shawn Browne.
The driver was reportedly dumped in `B' Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown. He later reported the matter to the police at the Kitty Station and said that the bandits escaped with his car. According to a reliable source, the taxi driver told the police that he had just dropped off a passenger at Pike Street, Kitty, when a man stopped the car and asked what was the fare to `A' Field, Sophia. The driver reportedly told the man "$300" and proceeded to take his `passenger' to the stated destination.
According to reports, the 'passenger' told the driver that he had to pick up his girlfriend, and as the car approached a culvert in the squatting scheme, he asked the driver to stop. The driver told the police that he noticed a man lingering near the culvert and decided to stop about 15 feet away instead.
When he stopped the car, the 'passenger' reportedly placed a gun to his head and ordered him out of the car. Sources said when the driver got out of the car, the 'passenger' discharged a round in the air. The other man, who was waiting near the culvert, reportedly approached the car and, together with the 'passenger', "stripped the driver of his valuables" and placed him in the back seat of the car. The second bandit took over the wheel, while the bandit/passenger reportedly held the taxi driver hostage until they reached `B' Field Sophia, where they dumped him and made off with his car.
At the station, a source said, the driver was shown the photographs of the five men who escaped from the Camp Street jail on February 23, and he identified Browne as the bandit/passenger he had picked up in Pike Street. Stabroek News was informed that relatives of Browne reside in the area.
Browne, along with other escapees, Andrew Douglas, Dale Moore, Troy Dick and Mark Fraser continue to evade the police, even as there were several hot leads during the past week on their whereabouts. Last Saturday, the police raided several city premises, including one at Premniranjan Place, Prashad Nagar where there was an almost four-hour standoff.