Archive for May 5th, 2012
Cop wrestles suspect for gun
(CNS): Police have arrested three people and recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun after a routine stop in the early hours of Saturday morning. Officers on patrol 1am on Saturday in the Seymour Drive area of George Town stopped a white Honda motor vehicle. Suspicious of thepeople in the car, the unarmed officers search the two men and one woman and found the handgun, after which one of the male suspects ran off chased by one of the officers on foot. The second man then wrestled with the remaining officer in an effort to get his gun back, police reported. Meanwhile, an hour later, in Sheddon Road, uniform support officers were confronted with another man in possession of what appeared to be an AK47.
In the first case where unarmed cops seized a real, loaded weapon, the officer who chased the suspect who had tried to flee eventually caught the man. His colleague also managed to retain possession ofthe illegal weapon after a struggle with the second suspect. Fortunately, police said, no shots were fired during the struggle and no one was hurt. The two men aged 26 and 24 years old and the woman, who police said was 21 years old, were all arrested on suspicion of possession of an unlicensed firearm and taken into police custody.
The firearm (pictured above) was seized and exhibited for further evidential purposes.
“The arrest overnight of these three individuals is a prime example of what good policing is about,” said Acting Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton. “These officers were simply on routine patrol when they spotted a vehicle under suspicious circumstances and decided to investigate. They never expected to be confronted with armed suspects. Their bravery demonstrates the level of commitment shown by our officers in the continued fight against criminality in the Cayman Islands”.
USG officers just an hour later were also confronted with a potentially dangers situation. At about 2am the 911 emergency centre received information that a male was in possession of a machine gun in the Sheddon Road area of George Town.
Officers from the USG were sent to the location in the vicinity of Funky Tangs. On arrival they saw a male fitting the description holding what appeared to be an AK47 type machine gun (right). The officers made their presence known to the suspect and shouted to put the weapon down. The suspect turned to face the officers still holding the firearm. Officers again shouted to the suspect to put the firearm down and eventually he did as instructed.
The male was subsequently arrested but a preliminary inspection of the weapon determined that it was not a real firearm and the suspect was taken into custody on suspicion of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an offence. No one was hurt and no police weapons were fired, even though the officers were unaware that the machine gun was not real.
“The level of restraint displayed by those officers in this instance is unbelievable," Walton said. “It shows the level of training and high standards of our armed officers. They could have never known at the time that the weapon held by this suspect was not real. This could have easily had a different outcome. Again, it highlights the commitment of our officers to tackle gun crime and other criminality in the Cayman Islands”.
Anyone who has any information regarding criminal activities, is asked to contact George Town Police Station on 949-4222, the RCIPS tip-line 949-7777 or the confidential Crime Stoppers number 800-8477(TIPS).
PPM to reveal new faces
(CNS): The opposition has said it will be revealing some new faces to the public on Monday evening at what it hopes will be a mass meeting in Savannah where the public can show their dissatisfaction with the premier. Opposition Leader Alden McLaughlin said that a number of people who have expressed an interest in running on the PPM ticket in 2013 will be making an appearance at the meeting. This appears to be marking the start of a year-long campaign to oust the UDP government but also part of what he hopes will be a short campaign to persuade the premier to step aside while he remains the subject of three police probes.
At a heavily attended PPM national council meeting on Thursday evening McLaughlin said eight people have already stepped forward to be considered as People’s Progressive Movement candidates for the May 2013 General Election to run alongside the five existing members also in coalition with Ezzard Miller. The member for North Side denied completely throwing in his lot with the PPM, however, saying he had not joined the party and would remain an independent candidate.
As the campaign for a return to government for the PPM gets underway, the opposition leader hopes that Monday evening’s public meeting will also serve as a mass protest against the premier. He said he wanted to see hundreds of people come out to express their displeasurethat McKeeva Bush is persisting in office as the Cayman Islands premier even while under investigation for financial irregularities and his involvement with an illegal shipment of explosives.
McLaughlin spoke of the need for the people to be more militant in their opposition to the premier remaining in office given the circumstances. He said the people have to put pressure on Bush to step aside and it was only big numbers of people on the street and in protest that would make Bush recognise that he had to step aside.
In preparation for Wednesday’s meeting at the Legislative Assembly, where it appears government will not be placing the no confidence motion ahead of the day’s business and where what the opposition calls a flawed referendum bill are at issue, McLaughlin said the PPM and the independent MLAs would be standing up against the premier. However, he said they needed the people’ support. The opposition leader said that Wednesday would be a critical day for politics in Cayman and the people had to mobilize against what the premier was doing.
“We need your support and I am issuing a call to arms of all right thinking people in this country but in particular the members of the PPM," said McLaughlin. “We have to become more militant about these matters. It is not enough for us to sit down and complain amongst ourselves we have got to stand up and demonstrate our dissatisfaction.”
He encouraged everyone to come out to the meeting at the empty lot by Savannah Meadows on Monday in preparation for a mass demonstration on Wednesday outside the LA if necessary. McLaughlin appealed to PPM members to go out to talk to their friends and neighbours and bring someone with them to Monday night’s meeting.
The opposition leader said the people had to pressure the premier into explaining the letter he sent to developer Stan Thomas in 2004 demanding a balance be paid of $350,000 for a service that has never been outlined. He said Bush also had an obligation to tell the people what he had said in emails regarding the unlicensed dynamite shipment and answer the questions regarding the third investigation and what those financial irregularities were.
"It is those sorts of questions that have to be answered,” McLaughlin said, if Bush expected people to support his persistence in remaining in office.
The PPM open public meeting will start at 8pm Monday evening on the empty lot at Savannah Meadows.