Police kept busy coping with weekend crime
When shots are fired it’s always cause for concern, but when the apparent target might be a potential witness in a major court case, it raises more than a few eyebrows. Twenty-four year old Jose Lopez reported to police that he was riding his bike on St. Thomas Street at around 9:00 Sunday night and as he passed a black car with tinted windows at the intersection of Heusner Crescent, a dark skinned man stepped out of the vehicle and shot several times in his direction. Lopez managed to ride off unhurt. An employee of Magistrate’s Court, Lopez worked along with Ivan Ayuso, the man charged with in connection with the Paslow Building fire on August twenty-fifth. In related news, Ayuso appeared before Magistrate Earl Jones this morning and received a new court date of December seventeenth. Initially, the Magistrate’s Court had denied bail to Ayuso, but the Supreme Court later over-ruled that decision.
Meanwhile, a man remains in critical condition at the Belmopan Hospital tonight after he was wounded in a late night attack in San Ignacio. At around 11:00 Friday night, twenty-three year old Darwin Soberanis was about to enter his yard when three men jumped him. One of the assailants, armed with a revolver, shot Soberanis in the right shoulder and lower back. Police have since charged two San Ignacio residents: thirty-five year old James Smith and twenty-one year old Stanley Flowers. Both men are charged with attempted murder, dangerous harm, and use of deadly means of harm.
On Sunday, a popular fruit shop on the Western Highway was victimized by robbers. Frank Lord, a shop assistant at Charro’s, at the entrance to Belize City, told police that two youths entered the business at around 1:30 Sunday afternoon, purchased snacks, then left. However, he quickly grew suspicious when the same two guys reappeared about ten minutes later, one entering while the other stayed at the door. Together, the duo, armed with a gun and a knife, overpowered the elderly Lord then stole his wrist watch, valued at seven hundred dollars, his gold ring, valued at nine hundred dollars, and emptied the cash pan, which contained about two hundred dollars. The incident was the second attack against Charro’s. Police have since detained one suspect and their search for the other continues.
Police in Orange Walk are looking for a suspect after he allegedly attacked two people on separate occasions last night. In the first instance, forty-five year old Steven Meighan of Orange Walk Town was reportedly leaving a restaurant shortly after midnight when a man he recognized walked up to him and chopped him in the face. About an hour later, Alex Burke, also of Orange Walk Town, reported that he was walking with three other people when a man he also recognized approached him and hacked him across the face. Both Burke and Meighan are in stable condition at the Northern Regional Hospital. Police are looking for one Nicholas Keme in connection with the choppings.
While police may be looking for Keme, they have arrested and charged a Cayo man in last week’s heist at Spanish Lookout. Forty-one year old Floyd Neal of Teakettle has been charged with burglary and handling stolen goods. Police had previously recovered the pickup truck and many of the goods which had been stolen from Reimer’s Feed Mill in Spanish Lookout.
