Taxi driver Troy Burrowes was yesterday charged with stealing valuables while pretending to help remove household articles during the fire at Da Silva’s House of Optics on Sunday.
Burrowes, 40, of Lot 502 West Ruimveldt, appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of simple larceny.
Police say that on Sunday, September 1, at Middle Street, while Da Silva’s House of Optics was on fire, Burrowes, who was at the time assisting the home owners in carrying household articles to safety, stole items amounting to $120,000 in value. He was subsequently apprehended by public-spirited persons and handed over to the police.
Although police prosecutor Bharrat Mangru objected to bail attorney Paul Fung-a-Fat made a successful bid for his client to be granted his pre-trial liberty. Fung-a-Fat said that his client was helping at the scene of the fire when he was wrongfully accused.
Bail was granted in the sum of $100,000 and the case was adjourned until
October 1.
