A Belize City man who has several criminal matters pending in the Magistrate’s Court was remanded to prison after he was arraigned on charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery this morning. He was charged along with a 17-year-old minor, his alleged partner in crime, who is hospitalized and under police guard after sustaining a gunshot wound during the robbery.

When Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart asked Mason Patnett, 27, a construction worker of 72 Cemetery Road, if he understood the robbery charge she had read to him, Patnett replied: “I understand the charge, but that charge is bogus, as I neva meh deh in the village when that happen.”

Patnett, who had lived in Ladyville for some time, pleaded not guilty to the charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

And Magistrate Stewart, after explaining to him that she could not offer him bail because the alleged robbery was committed with a firearm, remanded him into custody until his next court date on June 24, 2014.

Ladyville police are alleging that Patnett and the 17-year-old committed an armed robbery in Ladyville.

Marvin Martinez, 18, a Ladyville resident, reported to police that on Tuesday, May 20, he was at the basketball court when Patnett and the minor robbed him at gunpoint.

Martinez told police that the men stole his beach cruiser bicycle, valued at $350, and $150 cash.

But the robbery almost turned fatal when the 17-year-old accomplice was shot, allegedly with Patnett’s handgun.

The minor had to be hospitalized and is expected to face charges as soon as he is well enough to be taken to Family Court. But while he recuperates, he is under police guard at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

According to Martinez, one of the robbers, whom he identified to police as Patnett, shot at him but missed, hitting his accomplice instead.

Court records indicate that Mason Patnett has several charges before the court, including attempted murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and drug trafficking-related offenses.

At the time he allegedly committed these two offenses, he was out on bail.