On last Tuesday a concerned neighbor who lives through Pink’s (Majestic) Alley came by our offices and provided us with a disturbing picture of one Derrol Smith, a resident in the government apartments in the Pink’s Alley area.
This neighbor told us that Smith relayed to them in detail of how he went to a friend’s house in the downtown area and had a few drinks. He then attempted to leave when a gang of men, whom he claimed he knows, attacked him, beat him savagely, stole all the money in his possession, and left him in Pink’s Alley where he was found by residents who called the police. The neighbors say that he woke up in the police vehicle where he seemingly had no memory of how he got there.
Smith is not by any means a criminal; in fact the neighborhood knows him as the neighborhood cook, as a family member told us that he cooks nearly every day.
When Smith was found, the police had to rush him to the hospital, so he did not give an official statement at the time. He did unofficially identify some persons who he claims attacked him, but as it was not in writing, the police awaited improvement in his health in order to get an official statement.
He did make that statement on last Thursday and as a result, police formally arrested and charged Ignacio Armando Villanueva Jr., a 37-year-old unemployed resident of #49 Albert St. West, Belize City, for the crimes of robbery and wounding.
Today in court Villanueva appeared in Magistrate’s Court where he answered for those charges, but he was not alone. He faced those charges along with Armando de Jesus Aviles, 34, a recent deportee from Los Angeles, United States. Both men pleaded not guilty and they went as far as to try to provide evidence to the court of their innocence.
Villanueva said Smith, the complainant, gave him several chop wounds, which he showed the court. He told the court that it was Smith who assaulted him, and not the other way around.
Aviles told the court that he was picked up by police and that the police made a mistake and took him in either on faulty information that he assisted Villanueva in the beating and robbery of Smith, or they mistook him for Villanueva. Aviles said that he doesn’t even know Villanueva and just met him in court.
Both men have been remanded until June 15, 2010, but Magistrate Aretha Ford told the men that they could apply to the Supreme Court for bail. Magistrate Ford told Aviles that if he is able to clear up the misunderstanding with the police, the charges will be withdrawn.
On an important note, in the official police information, there was no mention of Aviles being charged with the robbery and wounding of Derrol Smith.