Local man appears in court charged with nine offences

Local man Mark MACIAS, 31, of Laguna Estate appeared in the Magistrates’ Court this morning charged with:

Two counts of burglary

Two counts of theft

Two counts of interfering with motor vehicles

One count of Possession of Class A Drugs

One counts of intimidating a witness

One count of obstructing police

These charges relate to the following incidents:

On 16 December 2022, a burglary was reported at the Governor's Lookout Scout Activity Centre situated on the Upper Rock where the culprits had damaged the CCTV cables.

On 28th December 2022, the RGP were alerted to the theft of a car and mobile phone belonging to a local company after an employee had left the company. When asked to return the car and phone, the defendant responded with threats. 

On 31st December, a burglary was reported at the Horseshoe Bar where the fruit machines were broken into and their contents stolen.

On 1 January 2023, officers acted on information received and attended the Elliot’s Hotel where the defendant was believed to be staying.  Although the defendant had left the premises prior to the officers’ arrival, a search of his room revealed a wrapper of suspected cocaine weighing approximately 7.84 grams, together with the suspect’s passport and personal belongings.

On 1st January 2023, two cases of tampering with vehicles were reported to police.

All these matters were passed to detectives from the Crime and Protective Services division where, following extensive enquiries, Mark MACIAS was identified as the suspect.

In court this morning, MACIAS was remanded until the 24th January.