By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A MAN found with goods stolen from an Arawak Cay restaurant vehemently denied breaking into the Fish Fry stall.
Police said Allan Burrows broke into Anchorage Seafood Haven and stole an assortment of cleaning and cooking appliances in May last year.
When he first appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis yesterday, he denied the allegations and claimed he found some of the stolen goods in a trash can on the compound.
The court was told that a woman who was employed at a stall on Arawak Cay was the one to report Burrows after she saw him walking around the area with a box.
When she gave evidence, she said she was at work around 6.40am when she noticed the accused walking across the street with a box. She said she had never seen Burrows before, so she became suspicious and reported the matter to the Arawak Cay Police Station.
During his testimony, Officer Davaughn Pratt said he received information of a man leaving Seafood Haven with a box of items around 7am that day.
He said he then searched the area and found Burrows who he approached and “invited” back to the Arawak Cay station for questioning. PC Pratt said he then made checks of each stall in the vicinity to see if they had been damaged and returned to the station where he spoke with Burrows who told him he found the items in a nearby garbage bin.
PC Pratt said he later spoke with Alvin Butterfield, the owner of Anchorage Seafood Haven, who said the items Burrows was found with had been taken from his restaurant.
When he testified, Mr Butterfield said that that morning he had got a call informing him that someone had left his restaurant with a box. He said when he went to his restaurant to investigate, he noticed the rear glass of the eatery had been pried open. He also said he noticed that his deep fryer, microwave and his “one of a kind” power amp mixer were gone.
During the hearing, Burrows was not represented by an attorney.
When he was given an opportunity to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, he asked the woman who reported him to police if she had ever seen him break into any of the stalls.
After she confirmed that she only saw him walking with a box, he accused her of “causing him to get locked up”.
When Burrows cross-examined PC Pratt, he also noted that the box he was found with only had mop heads and an old music amplifier mixer and did not contain any of the other items Mr Butterfield had reported missing.
Yesterday, Burrows said he did not have any questions for Mr Butterfield, but insisted he was not the one to break into his restaurant.
The case continues August 27.
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