BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 8, 2018– Dajion Staine, 19, a security guard at the Samuel Haynes Institute of Learning who has been accused of stealing an LG cellular phone, valued at $250, was read a charge of theft today by Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford.

Staine wanted to plead guilty to the charge, but Senior Magistrate Ford entered an equivocal plea of not guilty when Staine said he did not act alone in the commission of the offence. She offered Staine bail of $1,000 and adjourned his case until April 5.

The theft occurred around 8:45 p.m. on February 6. The complainant, Adrian Hall, 19, a tour guide, reported to the police that he was at A Plus Restaurant on Mahogany Street socializing with Staine and Lyndell Parham, and when he left, he forgot to take his phone from the table.

Hall said that when he remembered his phone and returned to the restaurant to get it, his phone was nowhere to be found. He said he confronted Staine and Parham about it, and both of them denied having any knowledge of where it was.

But police said that when they viewed footage recorded by the surveillance camera at the restaurant, they saw Staine taking the phone off the table.

Police detained Staine and Parham and Parham gave them a statement. As a result, the police went to Staine’s residence on Poinsettia Lane and they retrieved the phone from under the steps of the house where Staine resides.
Staine said he had intended to give the phone back to Hall.