Attempted robbery and rape ends in arrest

A brazen Belize City man tried to pull off a robbery and rape inside a bar but he was unsuccessful. And when nineteen year old Abel Anthony Arana, an unemployed man of King Street, appeared in court he was slapped today with five offences: Attempted Rape, three counts of Robbery and Keeping a Prohibited Firearm. No plea was taken from Arana because the charge of attempted rape is an indictable offence. The incident occurred around ten-thirty p.m. on Thursday, January twenty-second at Blue Lagoon Bar at the corner of Euphrates Avenue and King Street. A thirty-two year old waitress of the bar reported to the police that she and two other women were closing the bar when a man armed with a sawed-off shotgun entered. She said the gunman stole their cell phones, a wrist watch, a gold ring and fourteen thousand five hundred and four dollars from the bar. The waitress said Arana then forced her into the bathroom at gunpoint and tried to have sex with her against her will. Arana then tried to get away but he ran into the police as he was leaving the bar. He then threw the shotgun and the stolen items back into the premises and was apprehended. Arana was remanded into custody until March third.