Darrel Alvarez arraigned for burning down his aunt’s house

Darrel Alvarez

A man who police claim confessed to burning down his aunt’s home in the Gungulung area of Belize City is tonight on remand at the Belize Central Prison.  Twenty-seven year old Darrel Alvarez was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court where he was slapped with a single count of arson.  Allegations are that this past Tuesday, he threatened to burn down a house belonging to his aunt, Sonia Harris.  And soon after Harris left her house, she got the disturbing news that the two storey wooden building was up in flames.  By the time she got back, the wooden structure was engulfed in flames. Alvarez was unrepresented when he appeared before the Chief Magistrate, Anne Marie Smith and while the offense is one for which bail can be granted, the prosecutor, Inspector Hector Rodriguez objected on the grounds that it is a serious offence, that the matter will be tried at the Supreme Court and furthermore that Alvarez carried out his threat.  With that, the Chief Magistrate, Anne Marie Smith agreed and upheld bail and remanded Alvarez to the Belize Central Prison until October third, 2014.  Harris lived on Holy Emmanuel Street and is a Belizean American; she had returned to Belize to repair her house and that is why she told her nephew to leave the house because he had allegedly being carrying out illegal activities at the house.