Two weeks after fugitive Tyrone ‘Cobra’ Rowe was handed over to police through the efforts of social activist Mark Benschop, there is still no word on the $1 million reward that was offered for assistance in his capture.
Rowe has since been charged with murder and multiple armed robberies and according to Benschop he should be given the reward since he put his life on the line to facilitate the man’s surrender on September 2. “They [the police] are not telling you anything about the money. There is principle involved in this. I am saying that I am entitled to it. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that,” he told Stabroek News yesterday.
When contacted, police spokesman John Sauers confirmed that there was indeed a wanted bulletin, offering a $1 million reward for Rowe. Stabroek News was unable to reach other senior police officials, including Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, for further comment.
During a telephone interview, Benschop stressed that he did not want the money for himself but would donate it to a charity. “If I get this money, it will not go into my pocket. Every cent of it will go to charity,” he said. Benschop, who runs the Mark Benschop Foundation, said he only learnt of the reward after Rowe surrendered to police. He added that he was not surprised that no mention has been made of it since Rowe was taken into custody. As a result, he questioned if the police were committing a public fraud. “I want Police Commissioner Henry Greene and the Minister of Home Affairs [Clement Rohee] to tell me what is delaying the disbursement of this reward to me,” he said, noting that he was the one who advised Rowe to surrender.
Asked why he did not transport Rowe to a police station, Benschop said, “I didn’t want to take that risk of driving with a wanted man in my vehicle.”
He said that to date the police have not taken a statement from him even though he was the person who Rowe called; the person who contacted the media; and the person who advised Rowe to surrender. “I want the police to publicly say why they haven’t given me that money. The public knows that that money goes to the person who facilitated it. There is a principle involved in all of this. By right, that money should be given to me,” Benschop added.
Benschop had said that several days before the surrender, a man called and informed him that Rowe wanted to surrender but did not know how to do it or who to turn to. On September 2, someone claiming to be Rowe called Benschop and said he wanted to turn himself in but he was afraid of the police. According to Benschop, the caller said “he doesn’t know who to trust and that he feels that I can hand him over to the police without being injured or killed. So, I decided to contact other members of the media to do it the right way because I think that was the only way. If somebody is wanted and they are willing to turn themselves in, I think police should accept that surrender.”
Rowe’s surrender came months after police launched a search for him in connection with murder and armed robberies in the city and its environs. A wanted bulletin without a photograph was subsequently issued for him and Commissioner Greene explained that the force did not know what he looked like and was depending on informants. Days before his surrender, police issued a second bulletin with a photograph and updated information on Rowe.
Rowe has since been charged with two armed robberies and the murder of Troy Collymore; who succumbed to gunshot wounds he sustained following an armed robbery at Plaisance, last month. A robber, Anthony Taylor, was also killed during that incident. Although Crime Chief Persaud had said that the two men were killed with bullets that came from the same gun, Rowe has only been charged with one murder.
