Suspects arrested in two city robberies
Two men accused in separate robberies have been arraigned in Belize City Magistrate’s Court. In the first case, eighteen year old Leon Yorke pleaded not guilty to Robbery, Resisting Arrest, Assaulting a Police Officer and two counts of Aggravated Assault this morning before Magistrate Sharon Fraser. Yorke was granted bail in the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars and the matter adjourned until January fourth. The teenager was arrested after Jacobo Thiessen, a scrap metal dealer from Shipyard, reported to police that while walking on Moya Street two men held him up with a knife. The duo then searched his pockets and stole fourteen hundred dollars in cash. Investigations into the incident led police to Yorke’s Berry Street home. Cops say when the accused refused to open the door, they were forced to kick it down. Once inside, officers say Yorke threatened them with a wooden plank. To subdue him, the police fired a warning shot in the home. Tonight we understand that decision is now being investigated by superior officers as Yorke’s family members are complaining that their children were put in harm’s way by the police shooting in the house.
Meanwhile, a man who gave two different names to police has pled guilty to theft. The twenty-four year old defendant has identified himself as both Steve Young and Deon Bainton, a resident of Regent Street. This morning he answered to the charges of Theft, Resisting Arrest, Assault of a Police Officer and Damage to Property and pleaded not guilty to the offences. But this afternoon he changed his tune, admitting that he stole two gold chains from the neck of a man standing in front of a restaurant on North Front Street. The victim, Brent Gonzales, told police that when the assailant grabbed his chains, he took off after him and chased him across the Swing Bridge to West Street. At that point, a police officer walking nearby realized what was happening and attempted to detain the thief. During the struggle, the culprit threw the cops police issue walkie-talkie in the drain. The chains were later found in the thief’s pocket. The accused was fined a total of two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars which he must pay by the end of December or spend twenty months behind bars. Magistrate Albert Hoare used his discretionary powers to dismiss the charges of assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. As for his two names, tonight we understand police are still trying to ascertain whether the convicted man is really Deon Bainton or Steve Young.
