George Henry, Gleaner Writer
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
GUNMEN STRUCK the rural communities of Spaldings and Cumberland in North West Clarendon on Friday night, shooting and stabbing at least two men and fleeing with thousands of dollars in cash.
The men held up and robbed two bars in the communities at gun and knifepoint before speeding off in a black motor car.
According to a witness to the robbery at Lindsay's Bar in Spaldings, about 11:30 p. m. two men entered the establishment and ordered drinks.
"One asked how much for two drinks of rum and was told $30 for one drink and $50 for two. He ordered two drinks. Then one of them walked away towards the door to go outside and then looked up the road. He then pulled up the door and came back in and pulled out a gun," the witness said.
The witness said after brandishing his gun, one of the gunmen ordered the bar attendant to give him the money she had from the day's sales, on seeing what was taking place, one of the customers attempted to run from the bar and was barred from doing so by one of the men.
ESCAPE
A tussle developed and the man, known only as Bob, managed to escape from the grasp of the thief and ran. However, the other robber ordered another man who was also having his drinks to give him what he had in his pockets, but he resisted and started to wrestle with the robber. The robber reportedly pulled a knife and stabbed him in his head.
The other man then turned to the bar attendant and ordered that she give him all the money she had. She complied, but he turned to her and asked for the rest. The gunman then jumped over the bar counter and started to search for more and she had to pull out an undetermined sum and hand it to him. The robber after getting the cash then jumped back from over the attendant's side of the counter and ran from the bar along with his crony.
The matter was then reported to the Spaldings police, some of whom were busy investigating another hold-up at Cumberland, some seven to eight miles away, which took place about an hour and a half before the Spaldings incident.
In the Cumberland hold-up, it is reported that two men fitting the description of the two who went to Lindsay's Bar went to a bar in that community, brandished a gun and a knife and ordered the attendant there to hand over money.
It's understood that the men after taking over $13,000 from that establishment stabbed a man, identified as Jacob Clarke, in his head and fled the scene in a waiting black motor car.
Clarke was rushed to the Percy Junor Hospital where he was treated and released.
