Teen Arraigned for Stabbing Policeman on Duty at a Grocery Store

Kijahe Molina

Nineteen-year-old Kijahe Molina, charged with wounding twenty-eight-year-old Zani Savala, a police constable, was today offered bail of a thousand dollars when he appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court to face the charge. Molina gave his occupation as a call center agent of Elston Kerr Street, Belize City. That is just two blocks from where the incident happened around closing time at Good Will Store on Central American Boulevard on Monday night. Molina pleaded not guilty and asked to explain, but he was informed that since he pleaded not guilty, he will get the chance to explain when the trial comes up. His bail does come with conditions: he is not to contact or interfere with the Savala or any member of his family, whether directly or indirectly; he is not to reach within a hundred yards of Savala; he is also not to be arrested and charged with any other offense while he is out on bail. Molina’s next court case is set for September nineteenth. The sequence of events are that Savala was working a special duty at the Good Will Shop and just around closing time a few minutes before nine, he closed the shop gate, leaving only the customers that were already inside to finish buying and paying for their goods. But he was approached by a youth who wanted to enter the shop, and even though Savala said he explained that only the customers who were already inside were allowed there, the youth got angry. He said they began to argue and the youth pulled out a knife from his left pants waist and stabbed him on the left arm. Other policemen in the area apprehended Molina a short while later.