A high-profile incident of vehicle theft has sparked renewed calls for stronger public safety measures across Trinidad and Tobago, after United National Congress Senator David Nakhid fell victim to a targeted car break-in that stole thousands of dollars earmarked for local charitable work. The brazen two-minute theft unfolded on Monday afternoon, following what Nakhid says was a deliberate跟踪 from a commercial bank branch in Maraval.
According to official police timelines, the senator parked and locked his black Mercedes-Benz in the lot of Simple Choice Mart, a Cascade supermarket, at approximately 4:15 p.m. after leaving the Maraval bank. He entered the store to pick up a small number of items, and just two minutes later, when he exited the building at 4:17 p.m., he discovered the glass on his vehicle’s rear right door had been smashed by the perpetrator.
A quick inventory of the car revealed significant losses: $10,000 in cash was missing, along with two designer perfumes – a Christian Dior fragrance valued at $2,600 and a second bottle worth $800. Additional personal items including bank cards and official identification documents were also taken by the thief. Nakhid quickly filed an official report with officers at the Belmont Police Station, who have remained in regular contact with him throughout the investigation.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday outside the country’s Parliament building in Port of Spain, Nakhid said he has no doubt he was followed from the bank by criminals targeting customers who have just completed withdrawals. He argued that this incident is not an isolated one, but part of a growing, troubling pattern of criminal gangs staking out bank customers to rob them after they leave the bank’s secure premises.
The senator pushed back against any attempts to frame the incident through a political lens, emphasizing that regardless of his public position, this was first and foremost a criminal act that highlighted a broader public safety crisis. He revealed that the entire sum of stolen cash was set aside for his monthly charitable outreach across communities along the East-West Corridor, where he regularly distributes food hampers and covers utility bills for low-income residents.
“I’ve always said I’m willing to give the shirt off my back in charity…but I don’t accept to be violated by anybody,” Nakhid told reporters, describing the theft as a personal violation while expressing confidence that law enforcement would identify and apprehend the culprits. He noted that existing closed-circuit television footage from the area, paired with a witness statement, should give investigators solid leads to work with.
Nakhid’s core demand is for commercial banks across the country to expand their security protocols beyond their immediate branch walls, to cover adjacent parking areas where customers are often most vulnerable immediately after completing transactions. He proposed concrete changes, including having armed security personnel conduct regular patrols of surrounding parking lots and actively monitor for any suspicious behavior that signals pre-robbery surveillance.
Despite the frightening experience, Nakhid said he does not feel unsafe going about his public and personal work, but stressed that his case serves as an important cautionary tale for all local residents. He commended Belmont Police officers for their professional, prompt response to his report, but made clear that his top priority remains the swift arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the theft.
“This is something circumstantial. It happened,” he said. “But I want to see these people caught.”
