suspended prison sentence for two years for stealing close to $4,000 from Terceira's North Shore Shell station.

Kingsley Burch, of Cable Hill, Devonshire, pleaded guilty to two charges of breaking, entering and theft.

On February 26, Police were called to Terceira's Gas Station after a security alarm was set off in the gas station. They noticed a small cash window had been smashed, said Police prosecutor Insp. Peter Duffy.

Insp. Duffy told the court that Mr. Ralph Terceira, owner of the gas station, arrived to assess the damages and reported that money, totaling $3,089 -- proceeds of the Gasarama Car Wash and Gasathon -- had been removed from a cash box.

On February 27, it was reported that a member of the public drove by the gas station and saw a man crawling into the window of the gas station, Insp. Duffy said.

The man watched the assailant exit through the window and chased him up Cable Hill, where the assailant escaped.

Insp. Duffy said $480 of rolled quarters were stolen, and a Bank of Bermuda deposit bag worth $25 was also taken. Damages for the broken window brought the total cost to $790.

On February 29, Burch's house was searched, and the cash box containing $1,609 was found, Insp. Duffy said. Burch was arrested on March 10 and admitted to breaking in gas station on February 26 and acting as the look-out man the second.

Burch told Police that he compensated the gas station by taking his car there for $350 worth of repairs.

He was fined $1,500 for each count, of which $2,196 was to be paid to the gas station.