Escaped prisoner convicted and sentenced in absentia

He may be an escaped convict on the run, but that did not stop Ernest Hinds from being convicted and sentenced for an assortment of crimes. Today Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord found the twenty-seven year old Hinds and twenty-three year old Joseph Almendarez, who was in court, guilty of Attempted Robbery, Using Deadly Means of Harm, two counts of Aggravated Assault, and Damage to Property. All told, each man was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. The charges arose out of an incident on March twenty-second of this year when the pair sought to rob Henry’s Bar on Central American Boulevard. The crime was foiled by the presence of Inspector Andrew Ramirez who was shot at before he could fire his gun. Although the would-be robbers escaped, a witness was able to make a positive identification of Hinds and Almendarez and that’s what led to their conviction.

And speaking of witnesses, another man who testified at the trial, twenty-six year old Frederick Arzu, is being sought by order of the Chief Magistrate. It seems that Arzu gave testimony that Hinds was in Dangriga at the time of the robbery, but subsequent investigation showed that alibi to be false. Arzu will be charged with perjury. Hinds meanwhile, who escaped from a prison bus last Thursday, will begin to serve his sentence once he is recaptured.