Tonight, a local parish is still coming to terms with an early morning break-in that almost cost them their beloved building. Reports are that tourism officers on patrol noticed smoke coming out of the windows of the St. John’s Cathedral after midnight this morning. Fire officials rushed to the scene and managed to prevent serious […]
Mark Vega, believed to be the leader of a gang that went on a depraved spree of murder, rape and robbery last Thursday, has been hit with additional charges. The new counts for robbery, forcible abduction and kidnapping come in connection with the assault on Jacob Rancharan and a female companion which occurred near the […]
It’s a story that was pushed off the front page by the weather, but in any case, there is little to report in the aftermath of Tuesday night’s quadruple homicide in Belize City. The two killers, Leslie Pipersburg and Patrick Robateau, remain on the loose and while police have received a number of leads on […]
Earlier in the week we ran a story, pegged to the opening of lobster season, that stressed the importance of fishermen observing conservation laws. These regulations, it was explained, are designed to prevent this valuable resource from being depleted. But not everyone was paying attention, it seems, as today we received word from the Fisheries […]
When word spread around Belize City last night that two security guards had been shot to death and a third wounded, the reaction was one of anger and disgust, but not necessarily of surprise, as attacks on security guards have regrettably become common. But when rumours were confirmed that two unsuspecting civilians had also been […]
He’s been in office less than two months, but for Police Commissioner Carmen Zetina, it may already feel like a lifetime. Today, while his men mounted a manhunt for two multiple murderers, the commissioner answered some questions put by News 5’s Stewart Krohn. The first inquired whether Zetina was optimistic about catching the pair of […]
One bright spot in an otherwise bad day for police occurred in Orange Walk, where it appears that authorities are making progress in solving last week’s spree of murder, rape and robbery in the north. News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams reports. Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting Twenty-seven year old Mark Vega of Orange Walk Town was today arraigned […]
Police arrested another criminal suspect today. Luis Castellanos of Red Creek Village in the Cayo District has been identified as the man who robbed the San Ignacio office of Belize Water Services on Tuesday. Three thousand, four hundred dollars in cash was given up by the cashier after the robber threatened the staff with a […]
A body found in the Salvapan suburb of the nation’s capital remains unidentified. The corpse, buried in a shallow grave was discovered on Sunday and according to police, belongs to an Hispanic man with long hair tied in a ponytail. The deceased was about five foot, eight inches tall, weighed one hundred and seventy-five pounds […]
A resident of Biscayne Village has died at the hands of his stepson. Police say around 8:00 on Monday night Gilbert Lamb, seventeen, had a quarrel with his thirty-eight year old stepfather Kenneth Ferguson. It is alleged that the cause of the argument was Lamb’s scolding of one of Ferguson’s sons. The misunderstanding led Lamb […]
Another stabbing incident, this one at the Hattieville Prison, has left an inmate recuperating from his wounds. Reports are that prisoners Erlin White and Marlon Fisher had a fight while on break. Inmates reported that White was stabbed to the right side of the abdomen and that shortly after, Fisher was seen running with a […]
Police have found a dead body in Corozal. He is identified as sixty-eight year old Theodocio Tzul of Santa Rita. Tzul was discovered in the Finca Solana area of Corozal Town around 7:00 on Monday night. The fully clothed corpse, which had facial injuries, was lying beside a blue racer bicycle. Police are trying to […]
Police have finally caught one of the four men they believe murdered a woman in cold blood, injured her husband and raped a young lady on Thursday in Corozal and Orange Walk. Twenty-seven year old Mark Vega was picked up by police around nine last night as he arrived in Belize City by bus from […]
Police have detained a security guard for questioning in connection with the robbery of the Belize Water Services office in Santa Elena, Cayo. B.W.S. public relations officer Paul Lecky told News 5 that around two this afternoon a lone dark complexioned gunman entered the office, ordered the guard to lie on the floor and demanded […]
Meanwhile, another man who also tried to rob a Belize City business but paid dearly for his efforts has been formally charged. Twenty-one year old Ursillo Mendoza, of Morning Glory Street faces years behind bars if convicted of the crimes of attempted robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of keeping an unlicensed […]
Two brothers operating separate businesses on Freetown Road were both robbed over the weekend by the same man. According to police, around 7:30 on Sunday night, a patron walked into Yin Kee restaurant on Freetown Road and ordered a beer. But when it was time to pay, the man pulled out a handgun and ordered […]
Corozal police have come up cold in their investigation into last week’s shooting death of Susanna Petkau and rape of a young woman from Orange Walk. Police say that they have yet to detain any of the four men involved in the crimes although they believe they know several likely suspects. Photos of these men […]
If the wave of violent crime that has washed over Belize during the last decade has one mitigating quality, it is that much of the violence takes place between people who know each other: that is rival gangs or warring families. On Thursday, however, that pattern was broken as a horde of hardened criminals went […]
In additional crime news, yet another Belize City security guard has had his gun stolen. At 4:00 this morning, thirty-year-old Artilles Orellano, a guard at the Northern Fishermen’s Co-op on North Front Street, was surprised by three men who beat him with a stick and relieved him of his thirty-eight-calibre revolver. This is the sixth […]
Tonight cops in the Cayo District are patting themselves on the back for catching a man who held-up a San Ignacio business this morning. Details of the incident are sketchy but News 5 understands that just after 8:00 this morning two armed bandits walked in to the headquarters of juice maker Big H and demanded […]
An early morning raid by Belmopan police has netted them two men wanted for robberies in three districts. According to Officer in Charge of the Belmopan station, Edward Broaster, just after 1:00 this morning a joint team from the capital and Dangriga ambushed a home in the southern town where they believed two fugitives were […]
We don’t usually report weed busts on this newscast, unless that is, they tip the scales in tons rather than pounds. And while recent seizures by police have been at the lower range of weight, what makes them noteworthy is the pedigree of the pot. It seems that a significant cross-border trade in marijuana has […]
Yet another Belize City security guard has been robbed of his weapon during a hold-up. According to police, around 9:00 Tuesday night a masked man armed with a handgun walked into Ying Ying Store on Mahogany Street Extension and demanded money. He ordered the people inside, namely the store attendant and security guard, to lie […]
With a number of high profile criminal trials either underway or about to begin, there is growing concern in the law enforcement community that important witnesses may come under pressure to alter or withhold their testimony. Tonight a Belize City man is behind bars after he allegedly attacked one such witness to a crime. Police […]
Two suspects have been arrested after they allegedly held up and attacked the proprietor of a store in the Stann Creek District. The incident took place around 9:00 on Saturday night in Trio Village. According to Martha Perez, she and her common-law husband, Anacleto Garcia were about to close their shop, Henry’s Store, when two […]
