Cops arrested in macheting, theft of fuel

There’s good news and bad news coming out of the police department tonight. The bad news is that it appears that more cops are committing crimes. The good news is that they are being arrested and charged.

In Benque Viejo Police Constable David Ortega has been charged with Grievous Harm following a family dispute in which he chopped his own nephew in the shoulder with a machete. The victim, eighteen year old Danny Cano, remains in serious but stable condition at the San Ignacio Hospital. The incident occurred around one a.m. Sunday and was reportedly a follow-up to an argument the two men had earlier in the evening. Ortega, a resident of Santa Familia Village, was assigned to the Patrol Branch in Belize City.

In Belize City Constable Rudolph Lawrence was charged today with Theft. It seems that Lawrence, the driver for Supreme Court Justice Adolph Lucas between February twenty-third and March twenty-third, signed for over seven thousand dollars worth of gasoline for the government vehicle, an amount far in excess of what was required to drive his boss from home to work. The discrepancy was discovered in the course of two separate audits conducted by the Registrar’s office. Both Ortega and Lawrence have been interdicted from duty pending the outcome of their trials. The Commissioner of police has reiterated a “zero tolerance” policy towards corruption and wrongdoing by his officers.