Mavis Bank farmer charged over $250,000 building materials theft

A 44-year-old livestock farmer from Mavis Bank, St. Andrew, has been charged with simple larceny after police accused him of stealing building materials valued at roughly $250,000 from a man's home in his community.

Joe Johnson was charged over an incident that occurred on Tuesday, June 30. Constant Spring police said that about 2:20 a.m., Johnson allegedly entered the residence and removed several building materials. The matter was reported to officers, and on Wednesday, July 1, Johnson turned himself in to investigators. Following inquiries, he was formally charged. His court date is still being finalised.

Separately, 33-year-old Demo Pennington of Trelsworth district, High Gate, St. Mary, is facing additional counts after a second woman he reportedly met through a dating application came forward. On Friday, July 3, he was positively identified during an identification parade and charged with larceny by trick and unauthorised access to computer data. Police allege he took the woman's belongings, including bank cards, and made unauthorised transactions totalling about $100,000.

Officers said the complainant met Pennington through a dating app on Sunday, April 26, and the pair arranged to meet the following day in Halfway Tree. During the outing, he allegedly drove her to Temple Hall Road in St. Andrew and stopped at a supermarket, giving her money to buy bottled water. While she was inside, he reportedly drove off with two cell phones, about $80,000 in cash, bank cards, and a personal document. She later discovered unauthorised charges of roughly $100,000 on her accounts.

Pennington was already charged on Tuesday in connection with the alleged rape and robbery of another woman he met on the dating application Tinder. He faces counts including forcible abduction, rape, and robbery with aggravation. Police said they communicated online in April 2026 and met on the afternoon of June 25 along Hagley Park Road in St. Andrew. The 43-year-old complainant allegedly entered his motor car and was driven toward Portmore, St. Catherine, where he is said to have threatened her with a handgun when she questioned his intentions. She was allegedly taken to a motel on Port Henderson Road, raped, and later driven back toward the corporate area while he reportedly stole her handbag containing bank cards and a cell phone before escaping.

In St. Elizabeth, a 38-year-old contractor is being questioned after his girlfriend died from a gunshot at his home in Top Hill District, Parottee, on Friday morning. The deceased was identified as 20-year-old student Anishka Thompson, also of Top Hill District. Police said that about 8:30, Thompson was at the house with her boyfriend when the incident occurred. He told detectives he was preparing for work, removed a licensed firearm from a safe, and placed it on a table. While loading the weapon, Thompson reportedly picked it up playfully; as he tried to retrieve it, the gun discharged and struck her. She was taken to hospital and pronounced dead. Detectives are awaiting a ballistic report and a post-mortem.

The National Compliance and Regulatory Authority is urging consumers to check for verification stickers on fuel pumps and trade measuring devices. Interim chief executive Tracian Elliot, speaking during a World Accreditation Day webinar hosted by JAC Global Accreditation and the Bureau of Standards Jamaica, said the authority's accredited inspection programme helps ensure fuel dispensers, supermarket scales, and other instruments deliver accurate quantities. Elliot noted that an orange sticker marks completed inspections and the period for which verification remains valid.