Two men, who were allegedly involved in the stealing of a quantity of fuel from Rusal Bauxite Company, were each granted bail in the sum of $75,000 when they appeared before the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Marlon Harris and Adrian Fordyce were not required to plead to the indictable charge of simple larceny when it was read to them by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton.

It is alleged that on July 13 at Aroaima, Berbice River the men stole a quantity of diesel worth $188,000.
Both men were each placed on $75,000 bail and the matter was transferred to the Kwakwani Magistrate’s Court for August 15.

A third man who was supposedly involved in the alleged robbery, Vergil Leacock, fell off of a pick-up he and the others had been using to steal fuel at Aroaima, and died of a crushed chest bone.

According to a statement from the Aroaima police, the vehicle transporting the fuel had been driving away and Leacock tried to grab onto it when he lost his grip and fell. A barrel of fuel had reportedly rolled out of the truck and onto him, killing him instantly.

A resident in the Aroaima area had told this newspaper that the men had gone to the area to steal fuel from the bauxite company’s truck that was expected to enter the compound. They reportedly parked their vehicle on the road, not far from the security checkpoint they knew the truck would have had to pass before entering the compound and waited to strike.

Reports are that the men were in the process of stealing the fuel when the security officer at the checkpoint who had been tipped off about their action, fired warning shots into the air to scare them off.

Though it is not clear what method they were using to steal the fuel, in their bid to escape the driver lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a ditch. He then tried to drive off without Leacock, forcing the man to run behind the vehicle and grab on to it.