A US couple were on honeymoon in Cable Beach when they were tied up and robbed inside their vacation home.
Leah Schmidt and her husband, Matthew Rutledge, were sleeping in their vacation rental when two men broke in. The couple were tied up, with tape covering their eyes and mouths, while thieves took whatever valuables they could find.
Emily Mountney, of The Belleville Intelligencer/QMI Agency, reported that the couple left Boston on July 16 for a two-week long honeymoon in the Bahamas, staying near Cable Beach.
On July 28, the couple had taken a boat tour out to Exuma. They arrived home, made dinner and later went to bed.
Mr Rutledge said all the doors were locked.
He told Ms Mountney: “We woke up in the middle of the night with these two guys in the bedroom with us.”
The couple were told to turn over and lie face down while their arms and legs were taped. Their eyes and mouths were also taped with duct tape, The Belleville Intelligencer reported.
“When it first started, I just told Leah just to do whatever they say.”
They untaped Rutledge’s mouth once they found his wallet and demanded to know the pin numbers for all credit and debit cards. They held a gun to his back, Ms Mountney reported.
The thieves continued to search the rooms, taking anything of value they could find. At one point they moved Leah to another room.
When they left, they yelled to the couple that they were leaving one person behind while another went to check and make sure the cards worked with the pin numbers.
“After about 15 or 20 minutes I didn’t hear anyone moving around so I yelled out to Leah. She got out of her ties and came and untied me,” said Mr Rutledge.
The thieves also stole cash, the couple’s wedding bands and Schmidt’s engagement ring, an e-reader, a Sony DSC digital camera, GoPro Camera accessories, sunglasses and a watch.
The couple notified the landlord of the property, who called the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
After giving their statements to the police, the owners of the rental property checked the couple into a room at the nearby Hilton hotel.
Mr Rutledge told The Belleville Intelligencer/QMI Agency that once they received the police report, it was riddled with mistakes.
They received the report on July 29 which they say was prepared by Paul Rolle, through Monique Brooks, the vice consul, Embassy of Canada, via e-mail.
The couple found errors in the police report including the date of the robbery, the nationality of the couple, the order of events that took place, the items stolen and who reported the robbery to the police, Emily Mountney reported.
On July 30, Mr Rutledge said he received a call from a Ministry of Tourism representative to offer her condolences and confidence that the culprits will be caught.
The couple left the Bahamas on July 30 and have provided additional information to the police, including dates and times that each credit and debit card was attempted at ATM so that police could capture video footage of the culprits.
Mr Rutledge told Ms Mountney: “It sounds like, from the latest feedback we’ve got, is that they (the suspects) are connected with another armed robbery. They’re not giving us many details, but it sounds like they know more than what they’ve communicated with us.”
“We just want to put pressure on them to continue the investigation. It’s frustrating that it’s not moving as fast as it would have if it were here.”
“Leah and I wanted people to know what happened to us, we don’t want fellow Canadians and Americans to go down there and think everything’s safe. I’m sure there are lots of people who go down there and don’t have a problem. Especially people who never leave the resorts, they never see Bahamian culture. But those people who really want to see more of the culture, we want them to know what could potentially happen to them.”
Comments
SP 10 years, 9 months ago
Home invasions like this are daily life in Nassau and kept quite by the government and police.
The week prior to this home invasion a Bahamian family along the same beachfront area experienced the exact same horror.
Where are the road blocks in the west that would curtail the movement of these animals? Thugs and illegals drive around Nassau with impunity.
The Commissioner needs to implement "SUSTAINED ROADBLOCKS" especially in areas leading in and out of tourist housing areas.
concernedcitizen 10 years, 9 months ago
i,m not for police states ,but i agree w/ you about sustained roadblocks ....I,m a middle class Bahamian and went through the same thing ,,pin number etc ,etc .. i lived a bit ,but still being at gun point is horrible .... I feel for them and i,m sad about our country ..Nobody is starvin here ,,we are giving w/ food or a slow five ,,,,,,,,,,,this is nonsense ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
superUser 10 years, 9 months ago
Just roadblocks in the West??
Look, Nassau is lawless, there is very little enforcement of laws here. Criminals roam the streets day and night, and many that call others criminals are criminals themselves.
Perhaps to even begin to fix the problem, first we ALL need to look in the mirror before we lay down to sleep and ask ourselves - have we partaken in criminal activity today? Did we break the law today, and yesterday, or the day before and so on so forth? Well, have you?
A major problem here is that most Bahamians are ignorant to the law, they break the law daily but do not know it, or do not count that as a law worth abiding by - then they pass judgement on criminals partaking in other crimes.
Maybe the other criminals just see these criminals breaking the law, and then think hey why not me. Even the smallest crimes must be punished, otherwise we are never EVER going to stop the violent more extreme crime - it will only get worse.
Bottom line - SOCIETY is to blame.
concernedcitizen 10 years, 9 months ago
roadblocks all over ,,,,and everyone can disagree ,,but when you make more babies then jobs and have an illegitamacy rate of 75% crime and poverty will increase ..we as Bahamians ,not hatains ,had 50,000 births in the last decade ..even in boom yrs 2002 to 2007 only 18,000 jobs were produced ..lets not talk about unfeasible imaginary industries ,,we have very smart business men here that would open business if they could make money ,,we have the lab results ,,Jamaica ,,Haiti ,,are we different ??,,can we have babies having babies and have a different result ??
superUser 10 years, 9 months ago
I agree, in fact look at the families (screaming babies included) today (Saturday) setup on the side of the road illegally, selling drinks and other items.
nationbuilder 10 years, 9 months ago
wow
henny 10 years, 9 months ago
Such a sad story. You think you are going on vacation to have a beautiful time and then turn up being victimized by thugs who don't have any regard for human life.
wave 10 years, 9 months ago
Thank God THE plp are in power, nothing will ever go wrong!
superUser 10 years, 9 months ago
Crime grew immensely under the previous government, the Wutless FNM. The FNM were in power for the past 15 of 20 years - so they take a majority of any blame someone might want to throw at either of the two political clowns. And yes, government could help to prevent much of the violent crime, and they don't - for one thing they could stop the radio stations playing murderer music all day long - this started under the previous administration which, wait for it, was FNM. I would love to see some leadership like that of the FNM 15 years ago, when they banned playing murderer music in public - violent crime DID go down, back then. Now they just want to appease everyone, they just do not care anymore, it is just about votes now, and how much crap they can say to each other on channel 40.
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 9 months ago
The seeds were sown waaaaay before the FNM took power...a lot of today's respectable businessmen played their part in the planting
lazybor 10 years, 9 months ago
Welcome to the Bahamas!
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superUser 10 years, 9 months ago
This type of crime doesn't happen in the US??
concernedcitizen 10 years, 9 months ago
yes it does but less per capita ,and violent crime has been dropping in the U/S ,,Our murder rate is 27 per 100,000 ,the U/S is 4 per 100,000 ....6and 1/2 times higher ,,also we need the Americans to come here ,they can survive w/ out us going there ,,,,,,,,,,,
superUser 10 years, 9 months ago
True, but home invasions do happen in the US very frequently. I can thankfully say neither I nor anyone I know here have ever had their home "invaded", but ofcourse there is first time for everything.
12-14 years ago I personally was victim of several violent crimes spanning over a few years - meanwhile people rubbed it off as the rare occurrence. the difference between then and now is not just the increased crime rate, but news media also did not report crimes as much as they do now. So it wasn't rare, it happened alot but they just did not hear about it, and it hadn't happened to them - yet.
Also I would question where this house is (Cable Beach is not what it used to be), and who the landlord is. Also, what kind of home security it has in place. Many landlords of Short term rentals tend to go cheap on securing the home properly.
Jazzyjules 10 years, 9 months ago
You are a bold faced liar and I am a American Citizen! we have our share of crimes over here as well and when we do it's HORRIFIC!!
concernedcitizen 10 years, 9 months ago
i am fifty and once lived for 20 years in the U/S ,,SIR /MADAM ..THIS ARE THE FACTS ON THE HOMOCIDE RATE ,,OURS IS 6 AND 1/2 TIMES THE U/S ..BEFORE YOU CALL PEOPLE BOLD FACE LIARS DO SOME RESEARCH ..OF COURSE THERE IS CRIME IN THE U/S ,BUT B/C % WISE THERE IS A LARGER MIDDLE CLASS YOU ARE LESS LIKLEY TO ENCOUNTER IT ..IN TWENTY YEARS IN THE STATES I WAS NEVER ROBBED AT GUNPOINT ,,IN 30 YEARS HERE I,VE BEEN HELD AT GUNPOINT AND ROBBED THREE TIMES ,,,DO SOME RESEARCH ON THE HOMOCIDE RATE ..NAME CALLING DOESN,T MAKE YOU RIGHT
spoitier 10 years, 9 months ago
I too live in the U.S, don't think for a moment that the U.S and other major countries don't cheat on their crime rate and Aids rate. However, I don't think it is close to the Bahamas rates though. Another point that you guys didn't touch on is the fact that house breaking isn't as high in the U.S is because guns are legal in the U.S, so criminals have something to fear.
bahamianadvocate 10 years, 9 months ago
This story should be 6 inches above the headlines. This is what adds to the BS because it is pushed so far back by the media. The media should be pushing these issues to the government but yet they have little professionalism and now we will hear little if not nothing from this story. Just another story as far as the government concern.
Puzzled 10 years, 9 months ago
Thisis not the first case of this kind of invasion on Cable Beach last week. It has not appeared in any media, but two technicians here on short term work permits were subjected to similar attack and being held captive by two people.
The techs reported it to the police. Then they left the country!
May not be a good advertisement for tourism, but the people have a right to know what is happening, not just what the authorities want us to know.
The_Oracle 10 years, 9 months ago
No matter which party is in power, the youth of the country have been taught by example that a) there is no accountability, b) steal as much as you can, just like the politicians. c) the laws are meaningless. They are the product that we have built! To have expected any other outcome would be folly.
JohnDoes 10 years, 9 months ago
If ya start HANGIN these MURDERERS AND CROOKS. The THIEVES/CRIMINALS will HUMBLE themselves. Hanging Execution is not banned here, it just has not happened in over a decade. This government could start hanging at any time! I dont see Barbados or Trinidad abolishing execution and they are still apart of the commonwealth. The government needs to focus on what we need rather than what other people are doing, let them stay right there minding this European Union on abolishing Execution. This country is spinning wildly out of control. This is not Europe!The Queen is only still head of the state because we are using her political system and I cant recall the last time she stepped foot in the Bahamas. Something to think about. People think about morals when it come to executions but you need to ask yourselves, were these blatant CRIMINALS & MURDERERS concerned about MORALS when they are out there killing like savage beasts? We Bahamians need to stop hating each other and work together, its too much jealousy and spitefulness going today.
Puzzled 10 years, 9 months ago
I do not see the murder/crime statistics going down in either Trinidad or Barbados. Maybe capital punishment is not the deterrent people think it is.
TalRussell 10 years, 9 months ago
Careful how you call for police roadblocks, they might just yield some them illegals roaming and working in our Bahamaland. It's highly unlikely the government would deport them back to their respective homelands, when those who have offered to "voluntarily" surrender to the authorities for deportation, have been flatly told to stay the hell away from the police or immigration officers. Honestly, I ain't that creative to make up such ridiculously insane stuff.
abacogrouper 10 years, 9 months ago
Until we truly believe and stand up for what we really believe as a Christian Nation (fearing God and not man), this country is in for some REAL turbulent times.
paul_vincent_zecchino 10 years, 9 months ago
This doesn't sound like the Bahamas many of of us have loved for so many decades. Either the ruling party puts a stop to this or it can expect visitors to seek safer venues.
This sounds like an inside job, doesn't it?
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