Man jailed after woman tracks down stolen car

When Alisha Maraj’s motor car was stolen from Grand Bazaar, she did not just wait on the police hoping for a miracle. She decided to do a little investigation on her own. Her car, PBF 4248, valued at $48,000  was stolen on the night of October 9, 1999. The matter was reported to the St Joseph Police. One day short of a month later, she saw a white Lancer car, bearing registration number PBF 3986,  in the Mount Hope area and followed the car to the Croisee in San Juan.

The following morning she went to the Licensing Office and obtained a certified copy of PBF 3986. She then notified the police and handed over the certified copy to them. Later that afternoon she went looking for that vehicle and sometime about 9.20 pm she saw it parked at the side of the Priority Bus Route, San Juan. She returned to the San Juan Police Station and spoke to the police. She was then escorted by two policemen to the place where the vehicle was parked. Maraj was able to positively identify the vehicle as the one which had been stolen from her. She was able to do so by certain peculiar marks and by the chassis and engine numbers . She was even able to open the car with her keys.

Maraj left the scene, but the police kept the vehicle under surveillance for about ten minutes before they observed Teddy Wong Wing opening the driver’s door with a key and proceeding to sit behind the steering wheel. When the police questioned him about the vehicle he said he had borrowed it from a friend. He was then arrested. Wong Wing told a magistrate that on the day of his arrest he had been working at Marlon Alcantara’s shop doing electronics, when the said vehicle was brought in by a customer in the morning. Wong Wing explained that the customer was told to return, since his boss had to obtain a part to have the cassette recorder repaired. The customer did not return.

However, around 9 pm Wong Wing said he left the shop and after renting two video tapes, he saw the vehicle in the vicinity of the Priority Bus Route, El Socorro and he decided to wait for the owner. He approached the vehicle to “watch the registration number” and when he got within two to three feet of the car, he was apprehended by the police. He denied stealing the car from Grand Bazaar, or having a key and sitting inside the car. Wong Wing was found guilty and sentenced to four years hard labour on June 16, 2000. He appealed his conviction but it was dismissed by Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma and Justice of appeal Margot Warner.

Assistant DPP Roger Gaspard told the Court that on the basis of the magistrate’s finding of recent possession and the oral statement made by Wong Wing, there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case and to call upon Wong Wing to answer the charge. He further argued that when Wong Wing was testifying, the magistrate was able to assess the evidence and she chose to disbelieve his explanation and therefore impute guilty knowledge. Wong Wing was defended by Israel Khan SC, who raised the issue of recent possession.