Traffic officer jailed after armed confrontation with neighbor

Mario Vernon

Traffic Officer Mario Vernon is tonight spending his first night on remanded at the Central Prison in Hattieville after his twenty-one-year-old neighbor accused him of pulling a gun at him and pointing it in his face, following a misunderstanding over missing money. The incident reportedly occurred on Tapir Street in Belize City, last Friday.  This afternoon, CIB officers escorted the twenty-four-year-old to the courts, where he appeared before Magistrate Carlon Mendoza to answer to a single charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon upon Jervin Lewis. Vernon appeared unrepresented and pleaded not guilty to the charge. Bail was denied and he was remanded into custody until October twenty-sixth.