Pinkard, also known as Biggs, was a member of the George Street gang.  Many believe that his killing was the result of the murder of Lauriano, with whom Pinkard had had a long-standing dispute.  But his relatives have said that it was unlikely that Pinkard could have been involved in any such murder because for most of that night he was in communication with his mother.

Like his late rival, Lauriano, Pinkard also was no saint.  He was charged in June of 2008 along with two other youths after Police found him in possession of half a pound of a plastic explosive as deadly as C4, which is among the deadliest explosives known.

As in the murder of Lauriano, Police have made no arrests.

On the night he was hit, Lord was along with Raymond Andrews and other friends at his house on Lavendar Street. The group had just watched the Lakers/Celtics championship game and was celebrating the outcome on the verandah when at least two gunmen passed by and opened fire.

Lord and Andrews were hit and Lord had to undergo a series of surgeries. He was transferred to the Belize Healthcare Partners and was placed in an induced coma to enable surgeons to try to reduce a swelling on his brain. When his family could not keep up with the payments, however, he was released and was taken home where his family noticed significant improvement.  Lord had begun to gain some mobility and was able to talk and recollect things.  That did not last for long as one week later he was visibly slipping away from them. They decided to take him back to the K.H.M.H., where he died.

Street talk is that the gunmen were out to get another man, named as Edward Lord, a man who walked free last year March for the murder of George ‘Junie Balls’ McKenzie.

Since the Prime Minister and Police Commissioner’s grand-standing on April Fool’s Day about rogue cops being behind a series of high profile armed robberies in the City and San Ignacio a few months ago, one officer, Constable Jermaine Mangar, was taken to court for offences not nearly matching the allegations that were made. He was eventually vindicated when the more serious charge, that of Attempted Robbery, was withdrawn for want of prosecution.

Just weeks after that, the newly anointed Minister of Police, Doug Singh, was caught doing what he seems to do best – put his foot in his mouth, when he publicly insulted and offended cops who are on the heavier side.  Singh kept referring to heavy-set officers as having “their guts hanging over their belts” and challenging them to a physical test.  Clearly the new Minister has no clue that some of those same officers are the more intelligent ones in the Department, regardless of their weight.

But perhaps the most outstanding snafu occurred only this week when a man posing as a cop was able to fool many civilians and use the department itself to carry out his deed of impersonating a police officer.  That man, Aaron Wilson, 20, faces six charges after his plan of making a living off citizens and acting as a cop landed him in the hands of the real law.

Wilson, it appeared, posed as a special constable attached to the Eastern Division Police Station on Queen Street and had been doing that for quite a few months. His one reckless act which turned things around for him happened after he was “leaving shift” last Friday evening fully clad as a police officer and stopped to offer a young woman a ride home.  The young lady accepted the offer but asked him to make a stop at the home of Malcolm Vasquez.  He did make the stop on Princess Margaret Drive but got into an argument with Vasquez during which he threatened him.  Wilson and the young lady left and it was what he did next that would come back to haunt him.  She said he fondled her and stole her cell phone and she decided to report it to the real police who discovered the Wilson was no cop after all.  That discovery was made as Wilson walked into the Eastern Division offices the same time the young lady was making her report.

The embarrassment of having civilians posing as cops is something that needs to be looked at urgently.  Obviously something is lacking if one can simply walk in, dressed and posing as a cop and no one would know.  Aaron Wilson had gotten so good at his act that he even fooled his girlfriend.  Every day he dressed as a cop and being in possession of all the necessary IDs and police regalia, would go to the Department and kept fooling civilians, getting money out of people who fell for his bribes for offences they were found to have committed.

While Wilson was eventually caught through no brilliance on the part of the Police Department, callers to the talk shows this week have indicated that this incident increases the distrust already existing between the BPD and the community, since one can never be sure if the person approaching them in uniform is really a Police officer.

The note was sent specifically to the group’s secretary, Joan Sutherland, whose son was killed four years ago.  She joined the movement to let her voice be heard on what the senseless murders cause and how frustrating the process is when the police and the prosecution can’t quite score a conviction.  The person accused of her son’s murder walked free a few months ago and since then Sutherland has expressed little faith in the justice system.

One of the founders of the movement, Yolanda Schakron, reiterated concerns she had made publicly before about corruption in the Police Department. She pointed squarely to the Commissioner of Police, Crispin Jeffries, saying that the public has lost all faith in his performance, and she implored the new Minister of Police, Doug Singh to replace Jeffries. Schakron has been very vocal since last December when her nephew, Christopher Galvez, was shot dead at close range while at a boat yard on the Western Highway.  Many fingers have been pointed, including at one of Galvez’ closest friends who picked him up at home just minutes before the killing.  The family has also laid blame squarely at the feet of a police corporal who was seen leaving the area with a bag before investigators arrived on the scene.  He was never stopped and searched and his affiliation to a prominent Belize City gang has drawn his credibility into question.  That officer was later transferred from Belize City, but was never investigated satisfactorily, at least not in the eyes of the Galvez/Schakron families, over the murder.

Before the group dispersed without incident, they promised to establish a counseling session for grieving mothers who need it and advice on legal rights matters.

His attacker apparently trailed Lauriano in another car and opened fired on him just as he was passing by a feeder road near mile 17.  After his attackers fired the first bullet which tore through his vehicle, Lauriano lost control of the wheel and ran off the road before making his way out. It appeared that Lauriano, or Nose as he was more commonly known, got out of the bullet-riddled car he occupied and tried to run for help.  But he never made it very far.

That was when the gunmen took the opportunity to finish the mission.

Although family and close friends describe Lauriano as a mannerly young man, those who keep up with the news know that he was not exactly a prime candidate for citizen of the year.  Over the course of his colourful life, this street figure had had run-ins with the law numerous times, the most recent of which was only this year when he appeared in Court on a slew of offences.  Prior to that, Lauriano had faced charges as serious as attempted murder and firearm offences.

This father of one had recently tried to better his life when he walked down the aisle little over a year ago and settled down in Hattieville with his wife and daughter.  But his effort to turn over a new leaf and live a long life was not part of the script for his destiny.  As if it was designed by fate itself to the words ‘live by the gun and die by the gun’, Lauriano suffered mutiple gunshots to the head and beside his body Police discovered a nine mm weapon.  An arrest is yet to be made for his killing.

The youth had just alighted a bus on the Northern Highway in which he travelled from Belize City and was passing in front of a Chinese shop heading toward Poinsetta Street when someone sneaked up to him from behind.  Startled, Matura tried to run, but his attacker caught up to him before he could flee and delivered a fatal stab to the left side of his chest before running off undetected.  Matura stumbled onto Poinsetta Street and collapsed in front of a church where he died.

Described as a quiet young man who accompanied his father everyday to Belize City, Matura was the brother of Glenford Matura, who was shot dead just a few months ago on March 10.  While it has not yet been confirmed, Police have a strong belief that the younger Matura’s death was the result of gang rivalry.  They have also appealed to the public to assist them in solving the homicide.  The day after the killing Ladyville Police revisited the crime scene and discovered what they believe to be the murder weapon, a knife, discarded not far from where Matura’s body was found.

Duran was reportedly engaged in a confrontation at Hi 5 Club on Aurora Street.  By their own admission, police say that Duran was never arrested and was not going to be.  But something went eerily wrong on Main Street. 

While Orange Walk Police are contending that Duran jumped out of the pan of the police pickup, his family says that is absurd to even suggest, especially since Duran was born with a hip imperfection which limited his movements.  The Duran family are going further by alleging that it was sheer negligence, at least, that led to Duran’s untimely demise.  They base their argument on several points – one, the violation of traffic laws which prohibit transporting people in the pan of a vehicle; two, that because Duran had been drinking, he should have been offered to ride in the passenger seat; and that speeding was quite likely a factor in the death.  While the Orange Walk police chief, Superintendent Joseph Myvette has publicly denied that allegation, Duran’s sister Atiliana has said that an eyewitness mentioned to the family that after the police vehicle crossed the pedestrian ramp it sped off, and that was the same time Duran fell out.

 But Duran was not the only detainee in the vehicle.  He and the other two persons with whom he was involved in the brawl, including a police corporal, were also being taken to the station.  The customs officer had agreed to be taken to the police station because officers told him it was just to allow him to ”sober up”.  The post mortem certified that he died from a fractured skull as a result of a blow to the head. 

As the Duran family lay their loved one to rest on Wednesday, they are also taking steps to file a law suit against the police for Mathias Duran’s death.  And while two senior officers from other jurisdictions have been assigned to investigate the circumstances of Duran’s death, there is not much police can offer at present, other than to say that transporting people in the pan of pickups is a practice the Department has been carrying on for years.

The last attack came against popular Doony’s Store at the corner of Albert and Prince Streets.  And what’s more startling is that the robbers pulled off the crime in the height of activity, just before midday when students are leaving school for lunch and people are bustling about their midday meal.  But that did not stop three well-dressed crooks from riding up to the store, park their bikes and hold up the security guard and another employee.  They did not get what they went for – cash, because the cashier was not at the cash register just then.  But the trio still did not leave empty-handed, as they relieved the guard of his licensed weapon and a female employee of her cellular phone.  The proprietors of the store were conducting business in the back of the building when the culprits entered the establishment. 

The crime has triggered the frustrated proprietors to lash out at the lax police patrols in the business area of town.  A member of the Sadarangani family who owns Doony’s Store says the upsetting incident not only traumatized her employees, but left one of them injured.  It happened when the thief who wielded the gun hit him in the head as they struggled.  That employee was sent home for the day to recoup. 

The Police Department has announced its plans to increase patrols in the busy merchant sector, which will reportedly consist of a police officer at various intersections on Albert Street.  But that will come a little too late for the management and staff of Doony’s who have had to endure a second attack since August of 2008, and the many more businesses that have come under criminal attack.

Stuart Hall, 28, a British freelance writer, and his 21 year old Guatemalan common-law wife Sheyna Velez, 8 months pregnant, both pled guilty to possession of 18 grams of cannabis when they appeared yesterday in the #2 Magistrate’s Court. Senior Magistrate Dorothy Flowers fined each of them $800 and ordered them to pay forthwith. In default of payment they will serve 6 months.

When they left the #2 Magistrate’s Court their troubles were not over yet. They were taken to the #4 Magistrate’s Court where they were both charged with failure to comply with the conditions of their visitor’s permits and failure to produce their visitor’s permit. Magistrate Aretha Ford fined them $1,000 for each offence and ordered them to pay forthwith. In default of payment they will serve 1 year.

The couple was busted yesterday morning. A team of Police and Immigration officers went to Sea Breeze Guest House where they met Hall and Velez. The Police searched apartment #5 where the couple was staying but they did not find anything. But when the Police searched behind the backseat of Hall’s car that was parked in the yard they found 18.5 grams of cannabis.

Hall and Velez were asked by the Immigration officers to produce their visitor’s permit but they did not do so. Immigration records revealed that the couple entered Belize on September 11 via the sea port in Punta Gorda. They were given visitor’s permit allowing them to stay for 1 month in Belize. But when their permits expired on October 6 they did not renew them.

Dean Perez Sr., 43, a building contractor residing in Rancho Dolores Village, was charged with burglary and aggravated assault of an indecent nature when he appeared today in the #5 Magistrate’s Court. Perez pled not guilty to the charges. Magistrate Albert Hoare offered him bail of $5,000 and adjourned his case until January 21, 2010.

The prosecution had objected to bail on the grounds that burglary has become prevalent and the defendant is a neighbor of the complainant and he might interfere with the witness if granted bail. Perez’s attorney, Lionel Welch responded by saying that the offences are those for which bail can be granted.

The incident occurred on Friday, December 18. According to the allegation Perez entered as a trespasser the dwelling house of Rosalind Joseph with intent to commit rape on her 17 year old daughter Kaylee Joseph. Perez is also alleged to have indecently assaulted the teenager while he was in her bedroom. But sources say the charges were fabricated by the teenager because a member of her family saw Perez in her bedroom with her.