A 27-year-old Belizean businessman has escaped a prison sentence after pleading guilty to illegal weapon discharge in a high-profile incident that sparked a police chase along one of the country’s major thoroughfares last weekend.
The incident unfolded just after 1:30 a.m. this past Saturday near the Social Lounge establishment in Belize City, when local residents called police to report multiple gunshots ringing out in the area. When first responders arrived at the scene, witnesses identified a Ford F-150 pickup truck speeding away from the vicinity of the shooting, prompting officers to launch an immediate pursuit along the Philip Goldson Highway.
The vehicle was ultimately intercepted and stopped at the Palo Alto roundabout, where law enforcement found two occupants inside: Benjamin Garcia, the 27-year-old local businessman, and Sergio Martinez Ramirez, a Mexican business national. When questioned about the presence of a firearm, Garcia admitted he carried a legally licensed weapon and surrendered it to officers – a loaded dynamometer pistol. Both men were taken into custody and charged with the criminal offense of discharging a firearm in a public space.
In a stunning development during Wednesday’s arraignment, Garcia formally pleaded guilty to the charge, while Ramirez consistently maintained he had no connection to the shooting and was merely present in the vehicle. Citing multiple mitigating factors including Garcia’s clean prior criminal record, his early guilty plea, and full cooperation with the ongoing police investigation, the magistrate handed down a $3,000 fine rather than a prison sentence. Garcia remains in court custody temporarily as he arranges payment to cover the fine. Prosecutors subsequently moved to formally withdraw all charges against Ramirez, clearing his name of any involvement in the incident.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero, head of the National Crimes Investigation Branch, confirmed the details of the investigation in a press briefing Wednesday morning. Garcia’s defense attorney, Richard “Dickie” Bradley, later spoke to reporters criticizing the initial decision to charge his client’s co-accused. “ Ramirez had absolutely nothing to do with the incident – police reports themselves confirm Garcia fired the weapon from the passenger seat of the pickup. Ramirez spent days locked in a police cell for a crime law enforcement knew another person committed,” Bradley stated. He added that Ramirez is relieved the Belizean justice system ultimately vindicated him, confirming he is grateful for the court’s ruling to drop all charges.