‘Customer’ sentenced to six months for after-hours theft

MORE than a month after she admitted stealing several electronic devices from Unicomer and damaging the cashier register at another store, Onikca Matthews, was, on Friday, sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by Magistrate Leron Daly.

Matthews made her first appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on December 11, 2020, and had pleaded guilty to two charges – damage to property and simple larceny. She was then remanded to prison by Magistrate Daly and the case adjourned to Friday for sentencing.

She admitted that on October 27, 2020, at Lot 25 – 26 Main Street, Georgetown, she stole one Samsung Galaxy S10 cellphone valued at $192, 999, one Samsung Galaxy A80 cellphone valued at $157,999 and one tablet valued at $17,999, the property of Unicomer.

According to the facts, the woman entered Unicomer and after browsing items in the store, she proceeded to the washroom and locked herself inside. At about 20:00 hours, when the store had already closed, Matthews made her way to the front of the store where the items mentioned in the charge were located and removed them.

After committing the act, she went to the exit and called out to the security guard. She informed the security that she’s a staff of the store and had gotten locked in. The security guard informed a staff member who was inside the building. The door was unlocked and Matthews allowed to leave.

The following day, while making checks in the store, the staff observed the items mentioned in the charge missing. Upon viewing the camera footage, Matthews was observed removing the items. As a result, she was arrested. She was found with the Samsung Galaxy S10 cellphone in her possession. Subsequently, on November 7, 2020, Matthews unlawfully and maliciously damaged one cashier register valued at $10,000 at American Home and Beauty Center, property of Essam Ajouri.

According to the facts, on the day in question, Matthews entered the store which is located at Lot 72 Robb and Wellington Streets. During her visit, Matthews browsed the items of the store. She then proceeded to the storage bond area and hid herself until the store was closed. At about 19:00 hours, she came out from the storage bond and proceeded to the makeup section of the store.

Matthews removed articles and made her way to the cashier register which she damaged. She then proceeded to the wig section and removed more items. Matthews later remove a white T-shirt from a mannequin. She then placed the articles that she took in a black plastic bag and took a receipt from the register table, clipping it onto the bag.

She then positioned herself in an area and began to call out. A watchman from the other store heard her calls and went to see who it was. She informed the watchman that she’s a staff member and had gotten locked in the store while she was in the washroom. After hearing the information she gave, the watchman made contact with the store manager and relayed the incident.

Upon the manager’s arrival he observed that Matthews was not one of his staff. The manager proceeded to ask a female to check Matthews. During the check, the manager noticed that the articles that were in the plastic bag were not matching the articles on the receipt. As such, the manager took possession of the articles that were in the bag and handed Matthews over to the police.

The following day the manager viewed the camera footage and observed that the items found in Matthews’ possession were taken from the store. Matthews was arrested and told of the allegation to which she admitted. She was placed into custody and charged for the offence.

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