Two of three men alleged to have been a part of a stolen motor vehicle scheme were remanded in custody when they appeared before senior parish judge Andrea Thomas in the St Ann’s Bay Parish Court on Friday, March 17.
Charged with larceny and obtaining stolen property are Israel Linton, Andre Oram, and Dwayne Thompson.
Allegations are that in November 2016, the complainant parked and securely locked his Toyota Wish motor car at a Discovery Bay location.
The car was then taken from this location. Upon making this discovery, a report was made to the Discovery Bay Police Station. The police launched a search for the motor vehicle but it was not found until February 2017 in another parish.
In February, the police were on Patrol in the Chapleton area of Clarendon, when a Honda Civic Motor car driven by Hamilton aroused their suspicion.
They signaled the vehicle to stop. The driver, however, disobeyed the command and proceeded along the roadway. A chase ensued and the vehicle was subsequently checked.
At that time also, Thompson was seen driving a Nissan motor car.
Checks for the vehicles which Linton and Thompson were driving revealed that their chassis numbers did not match the plate and that they were tampered with.
When questioned by the police, Linton told them that the documents for the vehicle were at his house. The police then went to a house where they observed a parked Toyota Wish motor vehicle.
The Toyota Wish Motor vehicle was processed and identified as that, which was stolen from Discovery Bay. Linton during interrogation told the police that the vehicle belonged to Oram.
Thompson and Linton were taken into custody at the Chapleton Police Station and the vehicles seized.
Oram then turned up at the Chapleton Police Station and reported that the Toyota Wish belonged to Linton.
The said motor vehicle was then shown to the complainant who identified it by its chassis number, engine number and some of its defects.
Charges were then laid on both men.
On Friday, Judge Thomas questioned the evidence which was presented against Thompson, as she says “there is no evidence to prove that possession was handed down to” him. The investigating officer then told the court that Thompson had removed a radio from the Toyota Wish and had placed it in the Honda Civic. Additionally, he said that Thompson under caution had said Linton “gimmi instructions fi remove the radio from the Wish and place inna the Honda Civic car”.
The investigating officer also stated that there is a statement from an eyewitness to say that Linton drove the car (Wish) to Oram’s house. He said there was another eyewitness to say Linton was seen in the motor vehicle.
Linton and Thompson are remanded in another matter relating to the Honda Civic and Nissan motor cars in Clarendon.
Defense attorney, representing Oram, Nathan Geddes Morrison, on Friday, told the court that Oram was in a meeting with the organization for which he works when he heard that the police had gone to his premises. Mr Geddes Morrison said Oram is a mechanic and that the vehicle was driven to Oram’s house for him to “work on the transmission.” However, payment for the work was not made and that is the reason the vehicle was still there. Mr Geddes Morrison also said that he and his clients are willing to cooperate with the police.
Defense attorney for Linton, Everal Webster, says that the charge is a “tenuous charge as they (the police) only suspect the vehicles were stolen and that clarifications have not been made.”
The investigating officer in his response told the court that the scene of crime unit inspected the vehicles. He also said that “they (the scene of crime unit) are trained professionals and the vehicles have been tampered with.”
Mr Webster said that evidence only shows “unlawful possession of the vehicles and not that they were stolen.”
Mr Webster along with junior attorney representing Thompson, Ashtelle Steele, both agreed to watch proceedings in the Clarendon court before they make bail applications for their clients.
Oram was granted bail in the sum of J$450,000 with one to three sureties.
Initially, there were issues arising from the most appropriate court in which the matter should be dealt with since the vehicle was recovered in Clarendon and the men are involved in another similar case in the Clarendon Parish Court.
The matter is expected to be called up before the court on March 28.
