Thirty-two-year-old Panif “Chang” Broomfield, a construction worker from Effortville, May Pen, Clarendon, has been charged in connection with a 2019 armed robbery after forensic evidence tied him to the crime.
Broomfield faces multiple charges, including Robbery with Aggravation, two counts of Shooting with Intent, Illegal Possession of a Firearm, and Illegal Possession of Ammunition.
Reports are that on Thursday, February 21, 2019, at about 9:10 p.m., Broomfield was allegedly among a group of armed men who ambushed a taxi operator on Manchester Avenue in May Pen. The operator was forced into the back of his Toyota Probox motor car, and the men attempted to flee the scene.
An off-duty police officer intervened, sparking a gun battle. During the exchange, the taxi operator managed to escape by jumping from the moving vehicle. The gunmen fled, leaving the Probox abandoned along Chapelton Road, riddled with bullet holes.
Crime scene investigators later recovered spent casings and blood samples from the vehicle.
Shortly after the incident, police were alerted that Broomfield was receiving treatment for gunshot wounds at a hospital. He claimed he was shot while walking along the road, was treated, and later released. However, forensic analysis subsequently matched evidence from the abandoned vehicle to him.
Broomfield was later placed on the Clarendon Most Wanted List and featured in the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Wanted Wednesdays campaign.
On Tuesday, September 30, he surrendered to the police in the presence of his attorney. Two days later, on Thursday, October 2, he was interviewed and formally charged.
Investigations into the wider robbery incident are ongoing.
