3 men who posed as cops in home invasion are taken to court

Lyjon Franklyn

While the Supreme Court was dealing with election petitions, in the Magistrate’s Court, a trio of thieves, including a sixteen year old minor, was indicted on criminal charges ranging from aggravated burglary to firearm and ammunition possession following a brazen home invasion in Belize City on Tuesday night.  Businessman Carlos Peraza, of Freetown Road, reported to police that shortly after seven p.m. a vehicle pulled up in front of his home.  Its occupants, dressed in military fatigues posing as police officers, alighted the vehicle and one of them pulled out a firearm.  Peraza was badly beaten and robbed of three thousand, seven hundred dollars in cash as well as an assortment of valuables.

Jermaine Cattouse

Swift response from a team of genuine police officers led to the apprehension of thirty year old Lyjon Franklyn and twenty-six year old Jermaine Cattouse as well as the minor. All items stolen during the robbery along with a nine millimeter Beretta pistol, a cartridge containing eight live rounds, three camouflage jackets and a cap with a police logo emblazoned on it were subsequently recovered. In court today, they were jointly charged with three counts, including kept unlicensed firearm, kept ammunition without a gun license and aggravated burglary.  Cattouse was additionally charged with wounding and handling stolen goods for allegedly being found in possession of Peraza’s cell phone.  The trio is scheduled to reappear in court on June twenty-fifth.