Commissioner of Police Leslie James said that the accident he was involved in two Saturdays ago, in which two men were injured when a force vehicle transporting him collided with a truck, is not a ‘special’ matter and it will be investigated like any other.
“This matter, the only thing with this matter well, it was the Commissioner of Police that was involved and persons were injured. Just as how we would normally do investigations, we would take statements and investigate, this is a matter just as such. It’s not a special matter, I must tell you that,” James told reporters on Wednesday following an event which was held at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), Eve Leary.
The accident, which occurred around 2.45 pm along the Covent Garden Public Road, on the East Bank of Demerara, resulted in the occupants of a water truck sustaining serious injuries, including a broken leg and a broken hip.
Basdeo Lallchan, 37, of Lot 1718 Block X Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and Jonathan Ramkellawan, 24, also a resident of Diamond, are currently both patients at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Lallchan, who was the driver of canter truck, GWW 9079, sustained a broken leg, while his porter, Ramkellawan, sustained a broken hip and injuries to his feet.
The force vehicle, PSS 4796, was driven by Corporal Mark Smith. It was occupied by James and his personal assistant, Superintendent Alistair Roberts.
While James and Smith escaped unhurt, Roberts was admitted to the St Joseph Mercy Hospital, where he was nursing injuries to his shoulder.
The police, in a statement, had said that enquiries revealed that at the time of the accident, the police jeep was proceeding north along the western side of the western carriageway of the road with its beacon light and siren on, while the canter truck was proceeding in front in the same direction.
It added that as the jeep approached, the truck swerved from east to west and stopped. As a result, the jeep collided with it.
The truck subsequently collided with another truck and the jeep hit the rear of another vehicle that was parked on the western side of the road.
“As you know indeed last Saturday on my return to the country I was being transported to Georgetown with the Guyana Police Force vehicle and in the vicinity of the Covent Garden Public Road there was a motor vehicle accident. As a result, two occupants of a vehicle which was carrying water sustained injuries together with my personal assistant, he also sustained injuries,” James explained.
While he was tightlipped about details surrounding how the accident occurred, both Lallchan and Ramkellawan had previously explained to this newspaper that they were on their way to the East Coast of Demerara to sell water when the accident occurred.
They blamed the police driver for the accident and said that he should be held accountable.
Lallchan had confirmed that he was proceeding on the western side of the western carriageway of the East Bank Demerara Public Road. He said he was driving at a normal speed.
“Upon approaching 110, [that] is in Prospect, I saw this police vehicle, moderate, driving moderate because it was a whole lot of traffic went behind me… and approaching Covent Garden, soon as I hit, bound Covent Garden like the traffic was so normal, this dude [Corporal Smith], like he just exit all this traffic in a rush because he was just, everybody was just going at one pace at one time and before I coulda reach like the second corner in Covent Garden, this dude [Corporal Smith] is right there, up under my truck,” he had explained.
“…All I hear, this engine racing at the top, like it revving out when it hit my vehicle. That loud! So, I had to glimpse back at my mirror when I hear this thing approaching so, so loud, and by time I look back in me mirror, it was already on top of me,” he added.
Reports had suggested that the accident occurred after Lallchan allegedly failed to acknowledge the police vehicle’s siren. However, both Lallchan and Ramkellawan had said that the siren was not used by the police at the time of the accident.
However, when asked whether his driver was speeding at the time of the accident and whether the siren was used, James said the investigation will determine both factors.
At the time of the accident, James, who was seated in the back seat of the force vehicle, was being transported from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, where he touched down after returning from overseas duties.
