When he appeared in St. James Parish Court last Friday, a man who was charged with stealing a car from a merchant in Montego Bay was given a one-year prison sentence.
Fidel Ferguson received the punishment on the Zoom technology from parish judge Sasha Smith-Ashley.
On January 6, Ferguson, 36, of Mountain View, Greenwood, St. James, was scheduled to be sentenced; however, the social inquiry report had not yet been completed. Suwayne Phillips, an attorney, was representing him.
The complainant claims that when he woke up on July 18, his 2015 Toyota Axio was gone from his driveway. He couldn’t find the car, even though its GPS tracking system indicated it was in the Spot Valley region.
He managed to retrieve some of his personal items.
Continuing to track his vehicle, he found it in the Greenwood vicinity.
The complainant reached out to an officer he was acquainted with, who met him in Greenwood. Together, they ventured into a densely wooded area where the complainant identified his vehicle.
Nearby, an off-duty officer received tips from a local resident, guiding them to a spot just meters from the complainant’s car, where Ferguson was observed with a male associate in a white Nissan.
Another unregistered white Nissan was also seen in the vicinity.
The officer instructed the men to exit the vehicle, which led a man identified as Blacks to escape from a nearby house and conceal himself in the bushes adjacent to the parked cars.
Upon thorough examination of the vehicles, it was revealed that the ignitions of all three had been entirely removed.
Later, the complainant found more personal belongings inside the house from which the man had fled.
When questioned, Ferguson allegedly stated, “Officer, you need to speak to Blacks about this because he is the reason I’m here.”
He was subsequently taken into custody and charged with motor vehicle theft and possession of stolen property.
Additionally, Ferguson was among five inmates who escaped from police custody at the Barnett Street detention center on December 14, 2024, only to be recaptured the next day.