-two sets of men in ‘big brawl’
By Cathy Richards
Police are investigating an incident at Linden which started after members of a community policing group (CPG) were accused of assaulting a young man they claimed was acting suspiciously. They were subsequently arrested and released on station bail.
The members of the CPG said they were policing the Central Amelia’s Ward area when the incident occurred. “We worked two shifts [on Monday],” one member explained. “The second shift took over around 01:00 hrs when we saw these two men.” He said that as they approached the two they ran off into the nearby bushes. “When we see them do dat we became suspicious and we decided to try to follow them. Dem man jump fences break through some yards but we managed to ketch one ah dem and de other one get away,” he added.
He said they placed the captured man in the back seat of the car and went to collect another member who lived a short distance away after which they planned to take the man to the police station. He said that as they were about to make the pick-up they saw a gang of men armed with cutlasses and pieces of wood.
“… All a dem had cutlass and wood so we had to try and defend we self and pick up wah we could and it was a big brawl,” the CPG member said.
Several persons were injured in the process including the three CPG members. They said the gang pelted the glass door of the CPG member’s house shattering it in the process and the car in which the young man was being held was also damaged. They denied assaulting the youth.
“Is when dey lashin de car back windscreen like dey hit de man. Den dey tek he out and put he in a taxi and tek he to the hospital,” the CPG member said.
One member of the CPG said that during the clash, a call was made to 911. He said he told the female who answered that they had an emergency and needed back up. “She tell me ah gat to get to deh Linden police and ah ask her fuh deh Linden police number and she told me that she can’t give me it because deh place dark and she can’t see the number,” he alleged.
The police finally showed up at the Linden Hospital Complex and it was there that the three CPG members were arrested. “Imagine how thing turn backwards,” the CPG member said. “Instead ah de police holding de man dey lock we up and let dat man walk away scot free. Dey say that deh man seh that we beat he. We tell them that we tried to make a citizen’s arrest and dis whole thing happen. Dey suppose to hold both sides and do dey investigations if they din believe we.”
They were all released the same night, he said, but were rearrested on Wednesday morning and placed on $10,000 bail each. Stabroek News understands that the file is to be taken to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Quacy Griffith who was assaulted told the police that he was alone on the street when he saw the men and did not know who they were. He said he was badly beaten by four of them and lost consciousness on two occasions. He said he later learnt that they were CPG members.
According to the young man, he was walking along a road in Central Amelia’s Ward where he lives, when he noticed a vehicle with very bright lights driving slowly behind him. He said he kept looking back at intervals and the car was still behind him.
According to Griffith after a while the car sped past him and he became afraid and decided to take a shorter route to his home. “When I see them speed past me I get frighten and started walking faster and took a short cut through the Habitat Scheme,” he said. “But when I bank de turn I see de vehicle again and it start coming towards me and I decide to run.”
Griffith said four men emerged from the car and chased after him. After a while they caught up with him, he said, and dealt him a severe beating.
He alleged that they then dumped him into the car and took him to another location at Central Amelia’s Ward where a larger group of men beat him again. Griffith said it was a taxi which drove up that saved him. “While the gang a dem been beating me a taxi drive up and [the driver] ask dem ‘is wah y’all doing to dat youth man, dah is a good youth’ and de taxi man tek me to de hospital.” He added that after he was placed in the taxi he lost consciousness for the second time and came to on a couch at the Linden Hospital Complex. He could not recollect who the taxi driver was.
Members of the CPG said they had made a request on Monday to have a policeman accompany them on the patrol, to no avail.
Uniformed
In an interview, Commandant of the Linden Police Stations Horman Timmerman said the group was informed by the Commissioner of Police and was to work in collaboration with rural constables. “Rural constables fit into the place where there is no police but they are claiming that they need uniformed police. There are times when they make the request that we do provide uniformed police,” Timmerman said.
He said the department has an anti-crime unit with five police officers and because of the crime wave in the Amelia’s Ward area community patrols are conducted frequently, in addition to patrols in the rest of the town. He said that on several occasions ranks were sent to accompany the group while on patrol.
As it relates to Monday night’s incident Timmerman said he had received a report which stated that Griffith was engaged in a robbery which led to his arrest by the CPG.
Yesterday morning the results of damaged property were evident. Caught between the shattered glass doors was a piece of bloodstained wood. Stabroek News was told that a member of the alleged gang was badly chopped during the confrontation. However no one had sought medical attention for a chop wound at the Linden Hospital Complex up to press time.
Griffith was treated and sent home in the early morning hours of Tuesday. He suffered injuries to the left side of his jaw, his left hand, foot and back. He returned to the facility later the same day for a re-evaluation and was given further medical treatment and sent home.
The car which was used to arrest Griffith was at the Mackenzie Police Station; the rear lights and rear windscreen glass were shattered. A side window was also evidently shattered. Police are continuing their investigations into the matter.
