He was fined $100 plus $2,000 compensation

Interdicted police constable Joslyn Gill, 31, one of three officers charged with theft in the brazen September 2013 ATM shakedown of Belmopan resident Tyrell Hyde, pleaded guilty to one count of damage to property when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith this morning.

Gill has been accused of damaging 7News reporter Daniel Ortiz’s Samsung Galaxy S4 cellphone.

In court, Ortiz told the Chief Magistrate that although he and Gill had spoken about repairing his Smart phone, Gill has not paid anything toward the repairs since the incident occurred in December 2013.

For the damage to property charge, Smith fined Gill $100 that she ordered him to pay forthwith. She also ordered him to pay compensation to Ortiz, through the court, in the sum of $2,000. He was ordered to pay the compensation by May 16, 2014, and if he defaults, the penalty is distress.

The damage to property incident occurred on December 13, 2013, when Gill was brought to court to be arraigned on the theft charge in the Tyrell Hyde matter.

Ortiz was using his phone to video Gill, who was brought to court alone. But when Gill saw Ortiz videoing him with the phone, he became enraged and slapped the reporter’s phone out of his hand, causing it to fall, and breaking the screen as a result.

Gill is facing the theft charge along with two other officers, Reymundo Requeña and Edgar Teul.

All three policemen have been released on bail since they were arraigned in December.

Their theft case is still before the court and had been adjourned to June 30, 2014.