Police in ‘A’ Division have launched an investigation into a report of a shooting incident which occurred in the parking lot of the Pegasus Hotel early Sunday morning.
Allegations have since been made that the hotel is trying to cover up the incident as the offspring of well-known businesspeople are involved.
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that video footage, which would have been critical to identifying those who inflicted a beating on two men in the Aura Bar and Lounge where a Halloween party was being held, and those who later fired at them in the parking lot, has since disappeared.
Contacted yesterday, Second in Command Senior Superintendent Ian Amsterdam confirmed that a report of a shooting incident which occurred at the hotel’s parking lot, is being investigated.
When Stabroek News contacted Pegasus, a “Mr Lashley” who was identified as the head of security there, denied that there had been a shooting there. “This is all I would say… All I can tell you, there wasn’t any shooting in the parking lot,” he said.
He then referred this newspaper to management. However, up to late yesterday this newspaper was unable to make contact with management.
A frustrated Crystal Lawrie told Stabroek News she is convinced that “somebody is covering for somebody.”
She recalled that she and her friends were partying when her boyfriend and brother arrived to pick them up sometime around 2 am.
However, they were not ready, so a decision was made that they would stay and call for pick up when they were ready. Her boyfriend and brother then left.
Shortly afterwards, Lawrie said, she saw two men dragging someone near the stage, but because the area was poorly lit she could not see who it was. She said she later recognised her brother’s shirt and on venturing closer, saw a man holding him. When she intervened, she said, she was punched.
At that point, Lawrie said, she started looking for her boyfriend, as she knew he was supposed to be with her brother. She said two men held her brother and threw him onto a trolley, which was laden with glasses.
Security intervened at this stage, according to Lawrie, and the lights were turned on. It was then that she saw three men stomping her boyfriend in the chest. The security then halted the beating and instructed everyone to leave.
In the lobby, she said, they encountered a group of persons, one of whom shouted out, “This ain’t gun done here.” She said that one of her brother’s eyes was badly swollen and given the other injuries he sustained, he collapsed.
Lawrie told Stabroek News that she later learnt the whole incident was sparked by someone accidentally touching a young lady’s bottom.
Later, she said, as she neared her car, which was in the parking lot, she heard two gunshots. She said she believed the shots were fired from a light coloured vehicle, which was parked just outside the entrance to the hotel. She said that persons dropped to the ground and others ran for cover. Lawrie took her injured brother to the hospital for medical attention and later took her boyfriend back to the hotel, where he was staying.
After not getting much satisfaction when she returned to the Pegasus Hotel, Lawrie file an official police report. She said she went to Police Headquarters, Eve Leary but was told she had to go to the Alberttown Police Station. On arrival there she was sent to the Brickdam Police Station. At Brickdam, there was no detective to take her statement so she went back to Alberttown, where a brief statement was taken and she was told to return for a follow up.
According to Lawrie, her boyfriend and brother subsequently visited the Brickdam Police Station, where a detailed statement was given.
The young woman said that while she is upset about the fight, she is very concerned that shots were fired. “We kept going back to Pegasus but they keep telling us come back, come back,” she said, while adding that the entire episode is not only scary but has left her frustrated as this is clearly a case of wealthy persons being allowed to get away with a crime.
Given what has so far occurred, she is not confident that the matter will go anywhere. “This is the end of it because nobody isn’t doing anything,” she said.
Stabroek News had since learnt that although the hotel’s security officials have made it clear that they have no footage of a shooting incident, police ranks have been urged to press on so as to get to the bottom of the matter. Ranks have also been provided with the names of persons who may have been involved in the incident and an effort will be made to contact each one of them.
