Two charged in rape and robbery in Placencia

Crimes of uncommon brutality were not confined to Hattieville Prison, as police report that once again the Placencia Peninsula was the scene of violent armed robbery. Two Belize City men, twenty-four year old Cecil Jones and twenty-two year old Glenn Stevens, are in custody for a crime spree they allegedly went on in the wee hours of Thursday morning. At one a.m. two masked men entered the Placencia home of fisherman Christopher Lewis and ordered him to lie on the ground and his girlfriend to remove all her clothing. One of the intruders then searched the house and stole jewelry worth nearly three thousand dollars.

Only a few hours later the pair struck again, this time at the home of Terrence Lopez. Lopez and his common law wife were woken up by the assailants who quickly taped their mouths shut. Lopez was ordered to lie on the ground while the man identified as Jones proceeded to rape his wife. The two men then took thirty-five hundred dollars worth of jewelry. When they left the scene, they took Lopez with them, but released their victim when they reached the Placencia airstrip a few miles north of the village.

Jones and Stevens, however, would not get much further. Later that day, according to police reports, they were observed trying to sell their guns and stolen jewelry in nearby Seine Bight Village. Police arrested them, seizing a forty-five caliber pistol, a nine millimeter automatic pistol and ammunition for both weapons, as well as some of the jewelry stolen from Lopez. The pair faces charges of robbery, aggravated burglary and possession of prohibited firearms. Jones was also charged with rape. Police say they are looking for other suspects who may have assisted in the crime spree which may have been drug related.