Accused looters brought before court

The police holding cells were packed this week as scores of looters were processed through the Queen Street station. We’re not sure whether it was because of or in spite of the overcrowding, but word is that nineteen of the men arrested during the looting Wednesday night somehow escaped this morning before they were to appear in court. This startling information was only revealed when Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord was hearing the case of fifty-one year old Charles White who was picked up in connection with the break-in and looting at the Esso Gas Station on Cemetery Road. The Chief Magistrate inquired about the absence of four other men charged along with White and was told that Dean Ramsey, Tyrone Castellanos, Darwin Leio, and Edward Velasquez had been among the group that escaped from custody. In the absence of his companions, White pleaded guilty to burglary, and with no prior convictions, he was fined three thousand dollars. Because he was unable to come up with the one thousand dollars due immediately, however, he received a three-year prison sentence.

Several other individuals arrested inside Gaylord Store on King Street also appeared in court today. Brent Gibson, Joel Bishop, Charles Ramsey and Cordell Banks all pleaded not guilty. They were denied bail and remanded to Hattieville until their next court appearance on April twenty-ninth. Justo Swazo, forty-two, of Jane Usher Boulevard, rounded up at Gaylord by none other than the head of C.I.B., Chester Williams, pleaded guilty to his burglary charge. Luck was not with this defendant; however, as the Chief Magistrate told him he’d left home to walk into five years behind bars. To that Swazo replied, “That’s destiny; we can’t cheat it.” Over one hundred people were arrested during the looting in Belize City.