Tonight, a 25 year-old man is spending the first night of a 10 year sentence after he was convicted of burglary and handing stolen goods in Magistrate's Court.
Cruz Allen, a laborer of Water Lane, was tried in front of Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith today.
The complainant, Daniel Fabro, testified under oath and gave the same information that he reported to police. He said that he received a tip at 6 a.m. on October 27, 2011, that someone had burglarized his business on Victoria Street. He responded, and found Allen in the yard.
Fabro said that he pulled his licensed firearm and used it to detain Allen who he caught in the act of stealing an assortment of tools, a 19 inch flat screen TV, a router, an Olympus digital camera, and a pair of tennis shoes which Allen was already wearing.
Fabro then handed Allen over to the police who arrested and charged him for burglary and handling stolen goods.
The other key pieces of evidence presented in court today were the photographs which the arresting officers took of Allen wearing the stolen tennis shoes.
In his defense Allen told the court that on that day, a relative called him and told him that his girlfriend had thrown him out of the house. According to Allen, the relative, whose identity he didn't give, told him to come and help him move his belongings, which caused this mix-up.
Chief Magistrate Smith did not believe Allen, and she found him guilty of the offenses. Because he is well-known to the court, and he has a rap sheet, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the burglary, and 6 months for the handling stolen goods, which will run concurrent to the burglary sentence.
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