By Petulia Clarke, Staff ReporterAN ALLEGED petty thief who had been terrorising select Mandeville residential communities has been caught, the police say.
However one of the victims, Jean Anderson has suggested that a copycat is still at work, as in the last two weeks, three more houses in the same area have been broken into by a burglar using the same tactics as the first.
Mandeville police chief, Superintendent George Quallo, said yesterday that a suspect has been charged, appeared before the courts and remanded in custody for the crimes.
Yet someone, up to two nights ago, tried to rape an eight-year-old girl while she slept with her mother, and has broken into three more houses in the Battersea and surrounding areas.
Mrs. Anderson, who is also vice-president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said that the burglar used the same story in each case, telling the frightened occupants that there were other gunmen in the house. He has also robbed the same homes in the same vicinity, sometimes burglarising the same houses twice.
She said residents have had to spend thousands of dollars on private security fees and burglar bars.
Mrs. Anderson had brought The Gleaner's attention concerns about the thief's actions almost two months ago at an Editors' Forum, after she clobbered him when he broke into her house in Battersea.
She said that she had woken up to find a bulky youngster standing by her bed staring at her, and after clobbering him and calling the police, the lawmen got lost trying to find her home. Upon contacting neighbours afterwards, she realised that there were, at least, 10 instances of other neighbours who had been the thief's victims. He had apparently been terrorising the neighbourhood for several months.
A suspect was caught by the police a few weeks ago after he stole travel documents and a cell phone from American missionaries working from nearby Gordon Road. He was apprehended after negotiating payment with the Americans via the stolen phone.
