Crime - Channel 5 Belize

Belize Is 14th Deadliest Country in Region, Down From 3rd

When the Minister of Home Affairs was asked to comment on the latest crime statistics, he said that while Belize is now ranked as the fourteenth deadliest country in the region, he is still not satisfied. Minister Musa is already conceding that this year’s homicide statistics will be worse than last year’s historic low. But, he says, that has to do with the fact that Belize’s population is increasing rapidly.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“It is going down. I know that many times the media is always behind the commissioner to get interviews on the crime rate and certainly that would give you a sense that crime us all that is taking place because we have a very accessible and transparent Commissioner of Police. In terms of burglary, theft, property crimes, those are going down. In terms of homicides, particularly this year, that is going up. Last year we had a record year which took us, according to Insight Crime, to number fourteen after having been between number three and five for several years under the U.D.P. administration. We have come a long way from there but we have a longer way to go. I am not satisfied with being the fourteenth most deadly. I want to go even further down that list. So overall when you consider the last decade and thus decade it has been trending downwards. To beat last year’s numbers when it comes to homicides might be a bit difficult because we haven’t had a number like eighty-seven since 2005. So it is difficult. Towns, cities, like Santa Elena is growing, expanding and the criminals are in these expanded areas. So we have to make the adjustments at the ministry and police department to ensure adequate policing are in these areas.”

Individuals in S.I.C.H. Incident are Charged for Disorderly Behavior

Those vehicles donated to the San Ignacio Police Station come just over a month after there was a violent intrusion at the San Ignacio Community Hospital. Several standard operating procedures have been put in place to prevent a repeat situation. Today, the Commissioner of Police told reporters that the medical workers who were on duty inside the hospital at the time have not been cooperative with the investigation. As a result, the individuals who were detained in connection with the incident were only charged for disorderly behavior.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I wish that we could make additional arrest. The issue with the mischief behind the incident at the San Ignacio Polyclinic is one that I don’t understand. The persons who were working, the doctor who shared that audio with Channel 7 had since refused to come forward and make any reports to police. We made an arrest based on the account of a third party who was not present and if police would have been able to file charges for threatening words or whatever, we would have needed statements from those persons who were in the hospital. Those people refuse to cooperate. As a matter of fact even the meetings we had they did not partake in those meetings. So in the absence of not getting statements from them we will not be able to proceed any further. All parties were detained and we did the best we can to charge some of them for disorderly behavior. They went to court, they pleaded guilty and they were fined. From the policing standpoint we have done what we can do with what we have. If at some point the statute of limitation passes the nurses who were working decide they want to give statements then we can proceed against those persons for threatening words.”

Reporter

“At the time David Galindo’s brother, Minor had been named a suspect. Was he identified?”

Chester Williams

“We have checked out the video footage from the hospital and it turns out he was not at the hospital. So he was not a part of what took place at the hospital.”

Munnings Funeral Services Robbed at Gunpoint

This afternoon, Munnings Funeral Services was robbed at gunpoint in Belize City. The incident occurred around three p.m. at the establishment on Albert Street. According to the owner, Andrew Munnings, his elderly mother was in the building when a man dressed in dark clothing entered and pointed a gun in her direction. Authorities arrived at the scene shortly after, however the assailant had already vacated the premises. Munnings has since shared several surveillance camera footages from nearby establishments depicting whom he believes to be the assailant. In these videos a man wearing dark clothing, a hat and a mask is seen walking with a bicycle on the sidewalk on Albert Street. Munnings is appealing to the public to contact him or the police with any information that may lead to an arrest. We spoke with Munnings earlier who says that the experience was traumatic to his elderly mother and that her health is a priority at this moment.

Munnings Funeral Services Targeted by Armed Robbers

Police in Belize City are investigating an armed robbery that occurred this afternoon on Albert Street. Thieves targeted Munnings Funeral Services.

Owner Andrew Munnings said, “Our main office on Albert Street was just rubbed at gunpoint. I am sick sick sick and disappointed….Holding my mom a sickly woman at gun point is beyond crazy to me. “

This is a developing story.

Woman Raped in front of Patrick Faber’s Office; He Denies Family’s Request for Security Footage and Cites Safety Concern

Collet Area Representative Patrick Faber says a woman was raped in front of his office sometime in the morning last week. Faber shared this when he spoke of public safety and the use of technology to fight crime during the adjournment of the Sitting of the House of Representatives on Thursday in Belmopan. He said, “A resident of my constituency got raped right in front of my office in the wee hours of the morning last week. The police camera is right up there.”

According to Faber, family members asked him for video footage his cameras captured. He denied their request. “The family came if I could lend them, if I could give them the footage from my office. No sir, because I’m not getting any quarrel with the people in that area about snitching.

Faber not only expressed his own fear of reporting crime but also criticised both the current Briceno Administration and the previous administration under Dean Barrow for failing to provide the security that citizens in Belize desperately need.

Faber stated, “I’ve always been amazed by the Ministers of National Security or those responsible for the police, even under the UDP administration. It’s absurd to say that crime rates were here, here, and here under the UDP and now under the PUP, murders are here… On the streets and in people’s minds, there is a major concern about security. So, your commissioner can present all the fancy statistics, saying this is down and that is down, but even under the UDP, I felt the same way. Nobody wants to hear that. People want to know they are safe. So your justification that ‘it’s not as bad as when the UDP was in power’ doesn’t help.”

Faber continued, “The Leader of the Opposition is right when he says both administrations need to get serious about promises like DNA testing….All you do is boast about the job you and your commissioner are doing, but that doesn’t resonate with the people because we do not feel safe. It is your responsibility. You publicly declared that solving the problem is simple and easy. You did that, and the record will show it.”

Security Guard Arraigned for Common Assault Days after Theft Charge

Tonight, a man is out on bail after freelance journalist, forty-three-year-old Joseph Budna accused him of assault during a visit to the Transport Department in Belize City. He is fifty-year-old, Martin Carcamo, a security officer employed at Novelo’s Bus Terminal. Allegations are that on Wednesday, at around three forty-five p.m., while visiting the Transport Department Office, Budna was informed that it was closed and he began preparing equipment to conduct a live report to his Facebook page. He claims that Carcamo approached him and proceeded to call him a derogatory term and threaten to hit him. Budna further reports that after completing his recording, he attempted to leave the premises, asking Carcamo why he was insulting him. It is during this interaction that Budna alleges Carcamo punched him on his shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards. Carcamo appeared unrepresented in court today, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of common assault. He was offered bail in the sum of one thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same amount which he met. He is due back in Court on September twelfth, 2024. This is Carcamo’s second criminal charge in eight days, after he was arraigned on the charge of theft on July second.

Police Seek Additional Suspect in Clint Castillo Murder

Police are still seeking one suspect in connection with the Saturday night murder of Clint Castillo in Cotton Tree Village. As we have reported, twenty-two-year-old Jamal Hyde was charged with two counts of abetment to commit murder. The second suspect is in hiding and authorities are working to find him. ComPol Williams gave reporters an update on that search.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We are still looking for the person who is the suspect in that matter. We receive tips occasionally on his whereabouts. But to every time we respond he is not found. I had personally gone to the mother to ask if she would be able to assist in locating her son. She has pledged that she is going to do her best to do so. But in the meantime we continue our efforts to try and locate him. He is now on our five most wanted list. So you would know that he is of great priority to us.”

Reporter

“Is it gang related?”

Chester Williams

“It is not gang related. They are a group that hangs together. They are all friends. Apparently there was an argument that started between them and that led to the young man Hyde, that was charged, handing a weapon to the alleged murdered and the alleged murderer carried out the act. So it is not a matter of them being gang members. They are employed people and they had some argument between themselves.”

Reporter

“Is it a personal disappointment for you that this is the first time Cotton Tree has been under an SOE and right under the SOE there is a murder.”

Chester Williams

“Again, we have to understand that SOEs are not designed to stop every crime from happening. If you have an SOE and a wife and husband has an issue at home and one kill the other, how do you expect the SOE is going to stop that? The objective of the SOE is to go after the persons who are known to give problems in the area continuously. It is not just to look at somebody and say oh he looks like he has a gun and pick them up and lock them up. If we were to do that then you would be the first one to prance on the police and say we ware just picking up people. These are people who are employed together, they are friends, They were at a yard hanging out ,enjoying themselves and an argument started. How do you expect police to stop that? To say that it is different than a wife and husband it is not different. There are certain things that will happen outside of the preventative measures of the police and when it happens you have to make sure we find a way to deal with it, as simple as that.”

Police Charge Jamal Hyde with Abetment to Murder

Police have made inroads in the murder and attempted murder incident that happened in Cotton Tree on Saturday. The murder suspect is still at large, but today they informed the media that they have arrested and charged twenty-two-year-old Jamal James Hyde, a construction worker from Cayo with two counts of abetment to murder. The charges are in connection with the murder of thirty-nine-year-old Clint Castillo and the attempted murder of Andrew Muns. It’s an interesting scenario because the shootings happened in an area that the state of emergency covers, and because the man charged comes from the Roaring Creek area, known to have clashes with individuals from Cotton Tree in the past. On Monday, Muns’ sister, Anna Middleton, told News Five that the family is having a hard time coping with the loss, having suffered the loss of another brother only four months ago.

Anna Middleton, Sister of Clint Castillo

“It’s hurting us, the family because we are trying to recover. I know we have this to recover also. I’ve seen a lot of family go through this, but I would never. Believe in me. I’m not on my door. We don’t have our mom. We don’t have our power. We just have each other, you know? So I don’t know what’s that reason behind the killing because Clint wasn’t a criminal.”

Not So Fast! Despite Bail, Cameron Williams is Swept Up Under S.O.E.

The existing state of emergency proves that no one suspected of being involved in gang activity is above being collared, even at the courts. That’s what happened today when Police Street resident Cameron Williams was granted bail after being charged for being the member of a gang. The twenty-one-year-old, immediately following his court appearance earlier today, was snatched up by officers who detained him and placed him on remand at the Belize Central Prison under the S.O.E. Williams was before the lower courts on a single charge and upon being granted bail of five thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same amount, he was informed by the prosecutor that he is a person of interest under the state of emergency. Before he could process his bail, Williams, who has been in custody at the Belize Central Prison since May eighth, will spend an additional ninety days in jail.

Kijahe Molina Pleads Guilty to Stabbing Off-duty Policeman

It’s been a year since twenty-year-old Kijahe Molina was charged with wounding an off-duty police officer. The call center agent, then nineteen, is accused of stabbing Police Constable Zani Zavala at Good Will Supermarket. When he appeared in the magistrate’s court today, in the company of attorney Hurl Hamilton, Molina threw himself at the mercy of the court, asking for probation instead of a custodial sentence. After pleading guilty to wounding, Molina was fined nine hundred dollars and bound over to keep the peace for a period of one year in the sum of one thousand dollars. The prosecutor did not object to the fine, despite Molina’s attorney expecting that he would have been given probation. Molina is a first-time offender with no previous convictions.