Taxi driver was badly beaten

A carjacker who yesterday tried to evade the police lost control of the vehicle while speeding around a turn on Sheriff Street and crashed into a fence.
The car had been stolen from Alan Burnett, a 50-year-old Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara resident who has been operating a taxi for several years now. He told the Sunday Stabroek that he was beaten mercilessly in Sussex Street, Albouystown as he was about to pick up a fourth passenger for a supposed trip to Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara. He was ordered to hand over his car keys while being cuffed in his face. The men subsequently drove off with his vehicle, a grey 212 Toyota Carina bearing number plate HB 5473. The men also rifled through his pockets and took about $20,000 and two cellular phones.
The man sought medical attention at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre but was later referred to the Georgetown Hospital.

When Stabroek News saw Burnett at the Georgetown Hospital his face was bloody, there were several stitches to his lip, his shirt was blood-stained and the left leg of his pants was ripped.

The man bemoaned the amount of time he had been sitting in a wheel chair in the waiting area of the Emergency Room.
“Imagine, I is an emergency case. I was transferred by ambulance and they ain’t looking at me”, he said, while telling this newspaper that he wanted to leave the institution because he wasn’t being looked at.

From all appearances the man’s nose was broken and his jaw appeared swollen. He was seen about one hour after he had arrived by ambulance from the Diamond Centre.

Recounting his ordeal, Burnett told this newspaper that he had done some work for a man the day before and as such he passed on his number in case his services were needed again.

He said that while he was at the Stabroek Market car park yesterday morning, the man called and said that he would like to be picked up on Main Street.
Burnett stated that he complied with the request and when his passenger entered the vehicle he said that he had to pick up three workers in Sussex Street to take them to a property he was building at Parfait Harmonie.

However, when he arrived at the designated spot, there were only two men and the third was spotted a little distance away.
Still in obvious pain, the taxi driver said that when he got to the third man, he suddenly brandished a knife and the other three jumped out. While beating him they ordered that he hand over the keys and he did so after a severe beating.

Burnett recalled that he was pulled out of the vehicle and left bleeding on the roadway as persons nearby looked on. He said that no one came to his rescue but he managed to flag down a car and after recounting his ordeal he was taken to the West Ruimveldt Police Outpost.

The man said that he was bleeding heavily from his nose and was in pain and the ranks there kept asking him lots of questions.
No efforts were made to get him to the hospital but he subsequently made contact with a close friend who had to pay $3,000 for a car to transport him to the Diamond Centre.

When this newspaper left the Georgetown Hospital, the man was waiting for his x-ray results.

The chase
Stabroek News was told that the stolen car was spotted by the police about an hour after the carjacking in the Campbellville area and on seeing the police a man drove off in the car.

Persons living close by said they noticed the car speeding south along Sheriff Street with a policeman on a motorcycle in hot pursuit.
As the driver sped around a turn, the driver lost control and skidded off the road and into a fence.

It is unclear if an open back pick up with more ranks was involved in the chase but this newspaper was told that ranks were seen roughing up the man who was on the ground.

He was subsequently placed in the police vehicle which left the scene.
Yesterday at the park where Burnett operated, his fellow taxi drivers were still in shock and lamented the frequency of carjacking over the last several weeks.