Man gets nine months for stealing pastor’s gun, ammo

A Buccament Bay resident was yesterday sentenced to jail, after stealing a .38 revolver and five rounds of ammunition belonging to police chaplain Pastor Adolphus Isaacs.{{more}}

Appearing at the Serious Offences Court, Brian Myers, 24, said his convictions arrested him, that is why he admitted to stealing the gun and ammunition on January 23, 2015.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias sentenced him to nine months in jail on both charges. The sentences will run concurrently.

According to the facts, at about 11:45 p.m. on the date in question, Isaacs, a resident of Cane Hall, was seated at the Ministry of Agriculture in the waiting area, along with Myers.

Isaacs, who had a purse with him, got up from where he was seated and went into a room – forgetting the purse in the waiting area.

When the pastor returned about five minutes later, neither the purse nor Myers were to be found. The matter was reported to the police and investigations were carried out.

A police officer visited the scene and Isaacs’ black purse was found not too far from the building, under a vehicle. However, the gun and ammunition were missing.

Myers was only recently arrested and taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), where he admitted to stealing the bag and removing the gun and ammunition.

In court, Myers, who has a prosthetic leg, explained that when he saw the purse, he thought money was inside.

“I go to the toilet to search the purse and saw it had a gun, cheque book and some gospel tracks. I take the firearm and decide to go home,” Myers stated.

However, while walking in the vicinity of the Kingstown Preparatory School and the Postal Corporation, Myers said he had a change of heart.

“I walk back up by the agriculture place, but I been afraid to go back inside with the purse, so I throw it under a vehicle and I leave with the firearm,” he added, stating that he was going to hand over the weapon to the authorities on April 7 – the day after his birthday.

“What I did was wrong. I stole from a pastor and I just kept asking God to forgive me. My conscience really hurt me. It was beating me bad,” he lamented.

The police were able to retrieve the gun from another man, Shanon Richards of Campden Park, who also appeared in court and pleaded guilty to the charge of accepting stolen goods.

Myers explained that on March 9, he was in Campden Park when he met Richards, who he is said was an old friend. He said they went to his (Myers’) house in Buccament, where Myers told Richards about the gun.

He said while inspecting the weapon, it accidentally fired and residents in the area came to where he lived and enquired about what had taken place. He said when the residents came around, Richards ran with the firearm, but because of his prosthetic leg, he could not catch up to him.

According to Myers, he felt bad about what happened, so he went to file a report at the Vermont police station. He admitted that he lied to police officers there and told them that he was held at gunpoint by Richards.

He said he was told to report the matter at the Layou Police Station, where Myers also admitted lying to the officers there. However, he said the officers did not believe his story and they themselves went to investigate the matter at Buccament.

Myers said the officers found out the truth about what had happened and that was when he admitted that he was never held at gunpoint by Richards.

The Chief Magistrate chided Myers for his actions, stating that up until that point, he did not have a criminal record.

“Why [did] you get yourself into this? I am being sympathetic with you because you did the right thing. This is still a serious matter you committed here.

“You have no criminal record and you pleaded guilty from the start… Pray and fast for God to amend your ways. You need to pull yourself together,” Browne-Matthias said.(KW)