A Grove man was brought to court on Tuesday on a charge of breaking into his neighbour’s apartment and stealing his television.
Troy Rampargass was arraigned after months of evading capture by the police but pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The charge stated that Rampargass, between Sunday, November 17, 2013 and the following day, broke and entered the Lot 218 Samatta Point, Grove, East Bank Demerara home of Adrian Profitt and stole a 19-inch television set. The value of the set, it was stated, is $40,000.
According to Prosecutor Michael Grant, Profitt and the defendant were neighbours who had resided in the same building. On November 17, 2013, Profitt went out and returned later in the evening at about 21:30hrs. Before retiring to bed, Grant said, Profitt secured his home. Later, he woke up and discovered the television set missing. He subsequently made a report to a police station on November 18.
However, on the following day the defendant was allegedly caught in Profitt’s home, trying to open the front door.
Profitt, it is said, confronted the defendant and accused him of stealing the television. According to reports, Rampargass admitted that he did and promised to buy a television set for Profitt as compensation. Profitt later updated the police on this incident.
However, since the November 17 offence, Rampargass had managed to evade the police as he had moved out of the building that he and Profitt lived in. It is only on Sunday, when Profitt called to inform the police that the accused television thief was in the building removing his possessions, was the defendant finally arrested.
According to Rampargass, he had moved out since January 14 to a new address in the village. His new address, he said, is 229 Samatta Point, Grove.
Prosecutor Grant objected to bail and cited the nature of the offence as his reason. Grant also used the opportunity to mention that the defendant is under investigation for a similar offence.
Nevertheless, Rampargass was granted $100,000 bail and will make his second court appearance at the Providence Magistrate’s Court on February 7.
