Vergil Leacock, the man who fell off of a pick-up he and others had been allegedly using to steal fuel at Aroaima died of a crushed chest bone, a post-mortem examination has found.

Vergil Leacock

Leacock’s wife Marlyn told Stabroek News via telephone that her husband is not a thief and though she could not say why he might have been in Aroaima at the said time, she is confident that he only does “honest business.” The woman said Leacock had left their Ituni home last Wednesday evening with a haversack; though he did not say where he was going. She said that around 2.30 am on Thursday morning someone telephoned to tell her that her husband had been involved in an accident and that he had died.

Marlyn said she was surprised to hear that he had been at Aroaima because he didn’t tell her that he was heading in that direction.

She told this newspaper that while she has heard reports that her husband and others were attempting to steal fuel when he died, it is hard for her to believe. Marlyn said her husband usually cuts and sells wood for a living.

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 check point they knew the truck would have had to pass before entering the compound and waited to strike.

According to reports the men were in the process of stealing the fuel when the security officer at the check point 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.

The vehicle is registered to a man in Ituni.  Leacock is originally from Kimbia in the Berbice River but had moved to Ituni where he met and married his wife and made the community his home. He is expected to be buried today.