I recognized prowler, says detective, as trial begins

One of the detectives who viewed video footage captured from a home security system immediately identified the man on the camera as Coltrane Ratteray.

The Supreme Court trial of Ratteray began yesterday as he denied prowling and trying to enter the Fairvale Lane, Warwick, home of a couple as they slept during the early hours of September 28 last year.

Detective Constable Sylvester Augustine told Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons that he and another officer arrived at the home of Mark Eldridge and Lisa Silva on the morning in question.

While there, he said, they viewed footage captured from the couple’s home security system.

It was then he saw a man walk onto the back porch of the home. 

The man, who Det. Con Augustine said he immediately identified as the defendant, then appeared to be trying to open the back door to the home before going into a small refrigerator.

After subsequently turning himself in to Police, Ratteray was interviewed by Det. Con. Augustine but refused to say anything, the officer said.

When asked by Crown Counsel Larissa Burgess how he was able to recognize Ratteray, Det. Constable Augustine said the man was known to him as he had been a Police officer for over 30 years and had many conversations with the accused in the past.

He added that the jacket the man in the video was wearing was the same one he had previously seen the accused wearing and he recalled there were occasions when the accused wore a matching cap.

Also taking the stand was Mark Eldridge, who was alerted via email to a presence on his porch at 2.38 on the morning of September 28.

He explained that the way his security system was set up, it automatically took a still picture when any motion was detected on the porch.

He said he received a picture of a man and then viewed the camera footage.

He then called Police and saved the picture and camera footage on his computer. Mr. Eldridge also gave the Police a copy on a memory stick.

Mr. Eldridge told Police the man seen in the camera footage was unknown to him.

Ratteray is being represented by Marc Daniels. The trial continues. n