Five boys aged 12 to 14 were held by the police recently in connection with a series of burglary in Morant Bay, St. Thomas. According to reports, at approximately 2 a.m. yesterday morning, the police were on foot patrol when they received information about individuals seen loitering at a supermarket at Rosemarie Avenue (Jackass Hill).
Upon investigation, the police team discovered the boys, armed with a crowbar. They had pried open a back door to the supermarket, entered the building, and were in the process of removing items from the store. A number of items were recovered from the boys including BlackBerry cellphones, men’s and ladies watches, shoes, school bags, ladies and men’s clothes and two bicycles.
The boys have reportedly been linked to at least 16 burglaries in the Morant Bay area, and the theft of goods amounting to more than $250,000.
Donavon Levy appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where he was fined $10,000 or six months’ imprisonment for reportedly using a yard rake to inflict wounds to his son’s face.
Allegations are that on July 18, 2010 at approximately 6:40 p.m., Levy and his son had an argument, and Levy reportedly used his hand to hit his son several times in the face. Levy then reportedly used a yard rake to hit the son on his face, causing a wound between his nose and eye. Levy was later arrested and charged with unlawful wounding.
The police are investigating the circumstances under which the body of a man (30-year-old Oneil Douglas of a Manache Lane address in Kingston 5) was discovered yesterday evening in an industrial oven (that was turned on) at a bakery along Collins Green Avenue in St. Andrew. Douglas was also reportedly an employee of the bakery where his body was found.
According to reports, Douglas left home for work on Monday (October 25), but his family members became concerned when he did not return home that evening, and could not be reached on his cellular phone. The bakery was closed for the day yesterday, but during a search of the premises by relatives, Douglas’ remains were discovered at approximately 5 p.m. inside the lit oven. Blood stains and a large stone with spots of blood were seen inside the bakery. It has been theorized that Douglas was hit over the head with the stone, and then thrown into the oven.
A teacher at the Ensom City Primary School in St. Catherine, is without a motor vehicle today, as she was robbed of it at gunpoint on the school compound yesterday.
According to reports, at approximately 7:10 a.m. yesterday morning, while school devotion was under way, the female teacher drove up in her Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV and parked. She was reportedly pounced on by a gunman who demanded the keys to the vehicle. The criminal then sped away, after an accomplice assisted with reopening the school gate.
Reports indicate that the school only has a night watchman, and that its over 1,400 students are in need of daytime security as well, as it is located in a criminal hot spot in Spanish Town.
Thieves invaded the Trench Town Primary School in St. Andrew recently, making off with nine computers, a printer, a fan, three radios and approximately $16,000 in cash. A charity group had donated the computers (manufactured by Dell) to the school just last year and since then, they had been making a huge difference in the lives of the students. Overall, it was a crippling blow to a school that’s already burdened on a daily basis with the threat of community violence, economic hardships and the fluctuating attendance that these problems cause.
Additionally, the vagabonds reportedly crushed and destroyed a small garden that the children had been diligently cultivating. They even reading charts off the walls, apparently lighting them for use as torches so they could have sufficient light to carry out their dastardly deeds.
Damone Williams appeared in the the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where he was fined $10,000 or six months in prison, and also had to submit his fingerprints to the police. Williams had been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, after he reportedly assaulted his mother’s boyfriend when the man went to visit her at her house.
The complainant told the court that had on the invitation of his girlfriend, he visited the house only to be attacked and given ‘a proper beating’ by Williams. Williams told the court that he assaulted the complainant because he (Williams) had told him to leave the house but he refused to comply. The fact that Williams and his mother shared the rent responsibilities at the house was not enough to prevent him being found guilty and fined.
Teachers, parents and students at the Reliance Basic School at Ferdie Neita Park in Portmore, St. Catherine are now lamenting the fact that criminals have broken into the school twice since Friday. According to reports, thieves broke into the school’s office on Friday and stole $37,000 that had been raised recently through fund-raising efforts … more details here
Pongal Lee, one of two men accused of stealing food items and a radio from a church, appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court earlier today, and was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment at hard labour. His co-accused, Kenno Herron, was remanded for sentencing on October 11.
The court heard that Lee and Herron were caught with items including a radio, a bag of coconuts and about 30 Sunshine Snacks peanuts that were stolen from a truck that had been parked inside the premises of the Hagley Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Kingston 11 area. The truck had been parked there by a salesman who had gone into the church to worship.
The salesman returned to the truck and discovered that it had been broken into, and the items stolen. A search of the church compound was conducted, and both accused were found hiding in a brown Toyota motor car owned by Herron, with all the stolen items in their possession. They attempted to flee, and were chased and held by residents from a nearby community, and handed over to the police. They were later pointed out by the complainant, and subsequently arrested and charged.
