BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A triangular love affair involving a past contestant of the National Carnival Queen Pageant, a female from Newtown and her child’s father, ended in a court battle and also the contestant being accused of stealing the other woman’s BlackBerry.
In an exclusive interview with Carla (not her real name), she said that her visit to this media house was to expose the ‘dark side’ of the past contestant, who is supposed to be a role model for the young and enterprising people in the Federation.
Carla said that she and Cleopatra (also not her real name) had a court battle, and on exiting the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial and Legal Services Complex on Thursday, December 15, 2011 the police apprehended Cleopatra and took her to the Basseterre Police Station.
“They arrested her because I had reported to the police that she had stolen my BB on July 17, 2011, which was found in the possession of a man in August. I understood that she was in custody for some hours and later released,” Carla said.
SKNVibes contacted Inspector Charles Smithen, Head of the Criminal Investigations Department, who confirmed that a report was made by Carla and that Cleopatra was at the station on that day but was “discharged pending further inquiries”.
According to Carla, it all began in the recent past when she suspected that her child’s father was having an intimate relationship with Cleopatra.
“I had no physical evidence to confirm my suspicion. However, it finally came on Sunday, July 17 when I received a text message which said that my boyfriend and Cleopatra were seen at the Peninsula Cove. I immediately contacted a female friend and together we left for the Cove.
“When we got there, I saw my boyfriend and Cleopatra were inside her car. I confronted him and told him how I knew they were there. I also showed him the text message on my phone. He then led me away from the car in which I had placed my phone on the driver’s seat.
“After some minutes of him trying to convince me that nothing serious was going on between the two of them, I went to the car to get my phone and found that it was not there. So, I asked my friend if she had it and she replied in the negative. I then told her to dial the number but there was no response because it was turned off.
“There was only one other person who could have been responsible for its removal; so I asked Cleopatra if she took my phone and she said, ‘What am I going to do with your phone, I have my own BB.’ Her response caused me to suspect that she was the one who removed it, because how did she know it was a BB.”
Carla explained that she conducted a search of the immediate area and, on looking below the cliff that faced the Caribbean Sea, she saw the pink case within which the phone was placed, but the phone was missing.
“I then approached Cleopatra and told her if she was the one who threw the case over the cliff and was in possession of my phone, I need to have it now because I did not come here to interfere with you…I came here to speak to my child’s father.
“She angrily replied, ‘I don’t have your BB.” I told her that I was going to make a report at the police station that she stole my phone, and she said, ‘When you go to the station who will they believe…me or you?’
The Newtown resident further explained that on several occasions she had dialed the number from which she received the text message but got no response. However, she was successful on her last call and was told by the person who responded that, on the day in question, Cleopatra had borrowed their phone to make a call “but they did not know it would have been one bent on mischief”.
Carla indicated that prior to the calls, she had visited LIME on the following day of the incident at the Peninsula Cove to report the loss.
“They gave me details of the SIM card and sent information to Barbados to track my BB. And on Friday, August 19, one of LIME’s managers called and told me that she has positive information and that the BB was in use.
“I left my home and went to see the manager. She gave me a printout of two numbers that were being used on the BB and I gave it to the police officer to whom I had earlier reported the theft,” Carla added.
Carla said that on Thursday, November 24, a police officer called and informed her that they had someone in custody and “he had two BBs and I should go to the Basseterre Police Station to see if one of them belongs to me”.
“I went to the station and identified one of the phones as mine. I knew it was mine because of the pin number,” she added.
Carla also explained that two days after the incident at the Peninsula Cove, Cleopatra had reported to the police that she had damaged her vehicle, and she was subsequently charged “for an act that I knew nothing about”.
She informed that Cleopatra is a current student at an overseas-based university and regularly returns to St. Kitts during semester breaks.
Efforts to contact Cleopatra were futile.
This media house learned that Cleopatra may soon be charged and the episode of the stolen BlackBerry and damaged vehicle in the triangular love affair would end at the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial and Legal Services Complex.
