Four arrested for firearms and drugs
In Police news, acting on a tip a police operation went to the home of Joyce Bainton at 8041 Mahogany Street extension around six in the evening on Wednesday and found 43 grams of marijuana, 18 grams of cocaine, two unlicensed firearms: a 22 caliber revolver with 4 rounds of ammunition and a 38 caliber pistol with 5 rounds of ammunition. One hundred and twenty dollars cash was also at the scene. Leroy Pilgrim, Joyce Bainton, John Bainton and a seventeen year old minor were taken into custody. All four were arrested and charged this afternoon. John Bainton pleaded guilty and was remanded; the rest were released. While this might seem like a routine bust, the new Public Relations Officer for police Christy Castillo insists it’s been a good week for police.
Christy Castillo, Police Public Relations Officer
“The police are keeping up with their zero tolerance, police to crime. And even if we can consider this small or large it is very important to the community because every little amount of drugs we confiscate is less out there on the street for our teenagers to go out there and buy. Whether it’s one gun or point one gram of cocaine that’s still a lot of cocaine for us to confiscate.”
A.I.P. Simeon Alvarez, Head of C.I.B.
“This is a routine operation. The crack cocaine, definite… grams, that’s a very well amount of crack cocaine. The value of that would be, say, two thousand five hundred dollars just for 17.7 grams.”
Other information presented at this afternoon’s Raccoon Street Press briefing included an update on the missing nine year old Erica Wills. Assistant Inspector Alvarez says that the search has been very difficult because the picture of the girl has not arrived from relatives in the States. She was last seen on Saturday June 26th. The wife of kidnapped Mennonite Menno Penner has also made a videotaped appeal for her husband’s release, which will be sent out by the Police Department in the next few days. Penner was kidnapped in Belmopan on March 17th. It is believed he is being held by a criminal gang with members from Guatemala and El Salvador. The family’s last communication with him was one month ago.
