PHILIPSBURG--The 22-year-old man suspected of having committed armed robbery at Gold Star Jewellers in Front Street on August 17, may be jailed for four years if it were up to the Prosecutor’s Office. The defendant, who vehemently denied the allegations, will learn his fate December 27.
The jewellery store was robbed by an armed man wearing striped pants and a hoody. He made away with jewels with an estimated value of US $2,500, and with US $699 from the cash registry and US $200 in personal money belonging to the storeowner.
D.E.R.A. was arrested shortly after the robbery near the store. He claimed he had found the jewels and the money in a blue bag in an alley. He even asked a police officer to keep the bag safe.
“I thought it was my lucky day. I did not think I was going to be arrested for armed robbery. I was arrested together with a second person. I am innocent. I’m only detained because I found a bag,” A. said indignantly.
A., who was on leave from his studies in Canada, denied he was the man identified by the storeowner as the culprit. “I am not the person in the photographs. I cannot use my left arm and the person in the pictures can,” he said.
According to the Prosecutor, the robber had only used his right hand in the robbery and had his left hand in his pocket all along. “This makes the case only stronger,” the Prosecutor claimed.
The Prosecutor said the defendant matched perfectly with the description as provided by the storeowner. He dismissed the defendant’s claim that he had found the bag as being a “fable.”
Attorney Zylena Bary said the right person should be convicted, and not the convenient one. According to the lawyer, the culprit’s description was incorrect and did not match with her client.
She said it could have been possible that not her client, but the other person who was arrested had committed armed robbery. “But this person was released the next day, and my client was arrested as he held the bag,” the lawyer said.
She called for her client’s full acquittal. She said there was no DNA evidence found of her client’s presence at the store, and said no photos of her client, who is a first offender, were shown to the storeowner.
