The Police have launched a probe into the alleged negligence and misconduct of ranks at the East La Penitence Police Station in responding to the fatal beating of Ardell Haynes by unknown persons early Tuesday morning.
The man subsequently succumbed to his injuries at the Georgetown Hospital after being left in the station compound between traffic motorcycles in the drizzling rain.
Allegations were also made by Haynes’ reputed wife Sheril Sydney that a female rank was uncaring and unmannerly when she contacted the station via telephone for information, after receiving news that the man was being beaten.
The Guyana Police Force while expressing concern over the incident said in a statement yesterday that an investigation has been launched into the matter by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), “with specific focus on alleged impropriety and neglect of duty by police ranks in responding to the incident”.
Asked by Stabroek News about the allegation that the man was left lying in the station compound in the rain, `A’ Division Commander Leroy Brummel said “an internal investigation will be launched into that to see whether the police were culpable”.
The police statement also said that according to records there is no organized Community Policing Group in the East La Penitence area, contrary to what was published in an article in the Kaieteur News yesterday.
Meanwhile a post-mortem conducted by Government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh yesterday found that Haynes, a resident of Spurwing Drive, South Ruimveldt died from multiple injuries.
From all reports residents of the area mistook Haynes for a thief who had earlier broken into a home at Pirai Square, East La Penitence and attempted to cart off a television set.
They alleged that they had found the already battered man staggering down a street in Meadow Brook. After the break-in victim failed to make a positive identification, Haynes was taken to the nearby police station.
One arrested
Commander Brumell said when contacted yesterday that so far one man who lives in the South Ruimveldt area has been arrested while several others were questioned and released. They are also looking for several others, he said.
Brumell added that they are not sure where the man was beaten but he believes it occurred on the road that runs alongside the police station.
He informed this newspaper that the beating was carried out by persons belonging to that area and persons identified Haynes as the man they saw running away with the television set.
However, he said, they are still conducting their investigations to determine what transpired.
Asked for a reason why the ranks failed to take the seriously wounded man to the hospital, the Commander told this newspaper that a vehicle was available at the station but there was no driver. As such, he said, the ranks called the Brickdam Police Station for “back-up”.
From all appearances the incident occurred as the 42-year-old electrician was making his way home through Meadow Brook.
Sydney had told the media that the man’s bicycle, spectacles and cap were missing.
According to her, Haynes was a heavy drinker and a friend’s home on Norton Street was his popular spot. She said that whenever he is out drinking he would come home late and she would be unable to contact him. When he failed to show up on Monday night she assumed he was indulging in his usual habit.
However a nephew returned a call to the man’s cell phone early the next morning and heard persons in the background saying “y’all don’t kill dat man”. Both male and female voices were heard. After failing to speak to the man on three occasions, all the while hearing a male who insisted he was Haynes, before ending the call, the nephew contacted Sydney who later called the police. The rank who answered said that a man was there and the persons who brought him said he was a thief.
The nephew and other relatives subsequently went to the station and took Haynes to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
