Court hears how cop chased armed man

(CNS): An officer from the RCIPS’s uniform support group described how he chased an armed man on foot along the Esterley Tibbetts highway after the suspect’s car had smashed into a guard rail, last November. The key witness in the case against Aaron Crawford from West Bay for possession of an unlicensed firearm, said that Crawford carried the gun like a “track and field athlete would carry a baton” as he tried to run from the police. Officer Bradley told the court that he saw Crawford pull out the weapon from his waist band and run with it for several yards before he eventually flung it into the bushes near the Ritz Carlton.

Crawford (19) was arrested when the USG officer caught up with him and tackled him to the ground. Soon after the court heard that the gun, which was a WWII model, nine millimetre, semi-automatic luger, and ammunition was then found some time after the suspect was arrested in the area where the police officer said he had seen Crawford throw the weapon.

Crawford denies having a gun that night when he and a second man were chased by the police while driving a white Nissan. In the early hours of 17 November the officer told the court that he and his partner in a USG unit were told that the car was of interest to the police and began to pursue the vehicle. However, before they came close the driver, who was heading North towards West Bay, lost control of the car near the Island Heritage roundabout on the Esterley Tibbetts highway and smashed into the barrier.

As the police officers approached the crash scene Crawford leapt from the car he was in before jumping over the police vehicles bonnet as it arrived and ran off down the highway on foot. Officer Bradley described how he followed Crawford and clearly saw him pull out a gun during the chase as he called to the suspect that he was an armed police officer and that he should stop.

Crawford, the officer said ignored his warnings and pulled out his own weapon as he carried on running. He said the suspect did not point the weapon at him but as he continued to flee from the officer he threw the hand gun into the bushes before he was eventually apprehended.

The trial which commenced Tuesday afternoon after legal arguments,before Justice Charles Quin, sitting without a jury, is set to continue in court three for the rest of this week. If found guilty Crawford is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years.