The teenager who escaped from custody over the weekend, only to be handed back over to the Police by his mother, was on Monday remanded to the Juvenile Detention Centre for being in possession of an illegal weapon.
The 16-year-old appeared at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge, which alleged that he had in his possession a .32 Special Revolver along with matching ammunition on April 6, 2018, in C Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown.
He is yet to be charged for escaping from Police. According to C Division Commander (East Coast Demerara), Eon Cooper, investigations into the teenager’s escape are still ongoing.
The young man was arrested on Friday last following an armed robbery report. His arrest led to the crackdown of an apparent “gun trading ring” in Sophia during which one .40 Taurus Pistol with six live rounds, two .32 Special Revolvers with four live rounds and 79 grams of cannabis sativa were found by Police.
Guyana Times had reported that sometime Thursday night, a resident of C Field was robbed of his cellphone and a sum of cash by an armed teenager and based the description given to Police, they arrested the teenager who had been under their surveillance for some time. At the time of his arrest, the young man was found with the illegal weapon and told investigators that he rented it from another resident in the area.
This information led Police to the residence of that individual and a search was conducted on the premises during which they unearthed the .40 Taurus Pistol and the second .32 Special Revolver under a pillow in the suspect’s room.
Additionally, the ranks also arrested another occupant of the premises after he was found in possession of the narcotics mentioned above.
Meanwhile, the teenager was positively identified by the robbery victim as the culprit and was even found in possession of the man’s cellphone.
The teenager was taken into custody pending further investigations. But on Sunday while at the Cove and John Police Station on Sunday, he requested to use the washroom during which he escaped through a hole in the wall of the Police lock-ups.
However, the young man’s mother a few hours later tipped off Police that her son had gone home to hide. He was subsequently re-arrested.
