At 8.20 pm on Sunday, February 4, “Preet” Jaspreet Singh, the manager of Abell’s Tavern, was watching the Super Bowl along with his patrons when he heard the bell ring at the door of the adjacent walk-thru convenience and liquor housed under the same roof.
It was the tinkle of two masked men armed with guns. “It happened within a flicker of the eyes,” feather-weight Preet told The Bay Net Monday evening.
Describing Sunday’s armed robbery, Preet said as soon as he reached the cash register he saw one masked Caucasian youth pulling at it. “Before I could make any sense of what was going on, I saw another masked man standing next to the robber and pointing a gun at me,” he told The Bay Net.
Preet said within four minutes of a 911 call as many as half dozen police cars were at the scene.
St. Mary’s Sheriff’s office K-9 unit picked up the tracks of the fleeing robbers. They tracked the suspects in the neighborhood diagonally, across from the Buck Hardman Road and Valley Lee Road. The scent led the officers to one of the homes located just behind Abell’s Tavern. Within 15 minutes the officers and their dogs returned to the tavern with two suspects.
“Bobby” Bachitar Singh Randhawa, owner of the business, said this was the first time the tavern has been robbed in the 14 months he has operated the business. “I can’t imagine such a thing can happen in this small, peaceful place,” Bobby told The Bay Net.
Bobby said one of the suspect youths used to visit the store to buy stuff from time to time and was in the habit of using the restroom of the bar, but had been told not to enter the bar.
Bobby estimates his losses at over $2,000, including more than $1600 in cash and $400 price-tag on the cash register. He said he had recently installed a new camera surveillance system at the store.
Contacted by The Bay Net, St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron said, “I think they have got the people.” But he said since the two suspects have not been charged yet, and their names were not being released.
Cameron said investigations are under way and the suspects’ names are expected to be announced shortly.
Abell’s Tavern has for many decades been a popular watering hole for neighborhood locals. Senator Roy Dyson (D- District 29) and Commissioner Kenny Dement (R. Piney Point) have traditionally attended an annual event there for many years now, although this past December was an exception as both were absent from the community party due to pressing engagements.
Both Bobby and Preet belong to a martial race from India called Sikhs. The Sikhs have been historically known for their seafaring and entrepreneurial skills. The present prime minister of India is a Sikh and many senior army generals in the world’s largest democracy belong to the same sect. The joke goes around in the community that “one can find a Sikh and a potato in every nook and corner of the world.”