The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 48-year-old man was fined $1,500 after officers caught him attempting to steal a water heater during curfew from a local restaurant last week.

Police arrested Adrian Hamilton after he was caught trying to steal the utility tank, worth about $1,300, from Checker’s Cafe, Robinson Road, on October 1. He pleaded guilty before Magistrate Samuel McKinney yesterday.

The court was told that around 1am, officers saw a white Suzuki parked in front of the cafe. When they questioned the driver, he told them he was outside during curfew because he was catching cool air.

Police walked around the establishment where they observed a water heater lying on the floor. When they asked the defendant if he had placed it there, he said he did because he was trying to make a sale off of it.

Hamilton told the magistrate he was going through family issues and was battling a drug addiction. Magistrate McKinney noted the defendant had spent nine months on remand for a similar offence. He accepted Hamilton’s guilty pleas and fined him $500 for violating the curfew and another $1,000 for trying to steal the water heater.