A twenty-two-year-old man who was accused of snatching two gold chains from a woman was ordered yesterday to pay court costs and was placed on a bond to keep the peace for two years when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Kerwin Wills of St. Stephens Street, Charlestown, pleaded not guilty to the charge of larceny from the person.
It was alleged that on Republic Day, Wills snatched two gold chains valued $36,000 from Martina Culpepper.
Culpepper, who was also present in court, stated that on the day in question she was at Stabroek Market about to embark a bus when Wills approached her from behind and snatched her chains. She said that she and a policeman who was in the area at that time chased after him. Wills was apprehended and searched and the chains were discovered inside his pants. He was then arrested and later charged.
However, Wills stated that he was not the person who had snatched the chains. He said that on the day in question he had observed a crowd of people including a policeman chasing the person who had snatched Culpepper’s chains. He stated that the person soon dropped the chains and he picked them up. Wills noted that the crowd and the policeman then started chasing after him. When asked by the magistrate why he picked up the chains, he stated that it “is a normal routine, somebody must pick up something.”
Culpepper then stated that all she desired was compensation of $20,000 since the chains were burst and she soon received the amount from Wills’s sister.
The magistrate then ordered that Wills pay $5,000 court costs and placed him on a two-year bond to keep the peace.
