By Latrishka Thomas
A man has been fined $200 for grabbing a woman’s cell phone from her hands and running away.
On October 29, the complainant was sitting on her step and was speaking to someone on her phone when Jonathan Manley — a stranger to her — passed by on a bicycle.
He parked his bike a short distance away and then walked towards the complainant.
She asked him to keep his distance and he instead sat on the step and listened to her conversation.
After she was finished, he snatched the phone, ran toward his bike and rode off.
The woman shouted asking him to bring back the phone, but he continued to ride away.
She reported the matter to St John’s Police Station and, shortly after, an officer who was standing outside the station spotted the defendant riding by on Newgate Street.
The officer gave chase and was able to apprehend Manley when he fell off the bike.
The Digicel cellphone worth about $200 was recovered and returned.
Manley told Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh that he was intoxicated but admitted his wrongdoing.
“I drink a little juice and so but I finish with that now,” the court heard.
He was ordered to pay the fine or spend two months in jail.
In an unrelated matter, Garfield Pennyfeather also appeared before St John’s Magistrates’ Court for larceny.
He was charged for stealing a Gillette and Axe deodorant valued at $40.25 from Liberty Pharmacy on Old Parham Road.
He was seen on Old Parham Road a few days later without a mask and was apprehended and charged with larceny and failing to wear a mask.
Pennyfeather explained that he had been living on the streets at the time but that a worker in the pharmacy had reclaimed the items from him.
The magistrate reprimanded and discharged him.