Alana Seebarran, who was mistakenly pursued in a high speed car chase by an army intelligence officer during a bungled operation that resulted in three deaths, has told police that she and her brother fled during an attempt to detain her outside her home because none of the officials properly identified themselves.
In a statement that was submitted to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Thursday and which was released to the press yesterday, Seebarran, a former beauty queen who is now the wife of PPP/C parliamentary Charles Ramson Jnr, detailed the events prior to and after the accident, which has prompted calls for a full probe.
Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldier Sergeant Robert Pyle, his wife Stacy Pyle and truck driver Linden Eastman died on Carifesta Avenue on December 30, 2015, following a horrific collision that occurred during the chase.
Pyle had been in pursuit of Seebarran’s vehicle when he slammed into Eastman’s canter.
Pyle, who had been part of an operation being conducted by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), at the time believed the vehicle was occupied by the children of the Head of NICIL, Winston Brassington.
Seebarran, 28, who resides at 116-117 Cowan Street, Kingston, said that her brother Raymond had driven her home on the evening of the accident so that she could collect baby supplies for her child, who was left with her parents at their home.
She said when they arrived, they did not observe any vehicles parked in the vicinity of her home. However, when they exited about 20 minutes later, they observed two men dressed in plain clothes standing in the middle of the road directly in front of the house looking at them.
“I became concerned about their presence in front of the house and my brother quietly drew it to my attention. I said quietly to him that I also observed them and I was nervous about their presence at this time of the night. We proceeded to lock the gate quickly and moved towards our vehicle when I heard one of them who l observed speaking on a cellphone say, “they’re coming out now… they’re coming out now,” she stated. Seebarran said as they quickly approached their vehicle, one of the men, whom she did not know, asked for a minute of her time.
“I became very concerned and nervous, and I said to my brother, “get into the car now!” My brother then said to the man, “you can speak to me through my vehicle window” and he opened his door and got in the car. The man continued walking towards my side of the vehicle and knocked on the glass and signalled for us to wind the window down. My brother lowered my passenger side window about two inches. The man did not show us any form of identification but mumbled that he was from the Special Crime Organization and that “we need you to wait… our boss is on his way,” she recounted.
“I became very scared as the man had no uniform on, never stated his name nor did he show us any identification so I told my brother to drive away. The man insisted that we must wait and I told him that he could leave a telephone number for my dad to call as I had to get back to my child. My brother tried to get out from there immediately but a white car was blocking us from reversing. The white car started to move forward to a much tighter position to box us in even more but my brother was, however, able to inch my way out of the parked position on to the road. He then started to drive away heading in a western direction on Cowan Street, immediately, another car, silver in colour, drove out from a parked position on the southern side of Cowan Street and drove in front of us in a perpendicular position blocking our car. My brother immediately came to a stop and we became even more fearful. A man came out of the same silver car and started to shout at us and bang on our vehicle’s bonnet with his hands. I started to scream for my brother to drive away and he found a small pathway between the trench located on the southern side of the street and the parked silver car and drove away heading west on Cowan Street,” she added.
Seebarran said they turned left on to High Street and then made a left turn on to Lamaha Street heading eastwards. She noted that she looked back and observed that the two vehicles with their hazard lights and high beam front lights were following them. “We continued to drive heading east then made a left turn at Camp Street heading north. I kept looking back and observed that the two vehicles were still following us. While my brother was driving I was speaking frantically on my cellphone with my dad. My dad told me that we should drive to the Kitty Police Station. We continued driving north on Camp Road, then made a right turn heading east on Carifesta Avenue. I looked back again and observed that the two vehicles were still following us,” she stated, while noting that as they proceeded along Carifesta Avenue heading towards Vlissengen Road, she noticed that the two vehicles were gaining on them.
“I then noticed the white car move towards the southern side of the carriageway to try to overtake us but there was another vehicle which was immediately in front of us in our lane so the white car could not complete the manoeuvre. After we passed the car which was immediately in front of us, the white car again moved towards the southern side of the carriageway and drove along side of us when I felt an impact on the vehicle in the vicinity of the right front wheel area and observed that the white vehicle then careened on the southern side of the carriageway when I heard what sounded like a loud collision. I was still scared and told my brother not to stop and that we must go right away to the Kitty Police Station as my father suggested,” she added. According to the statement, Seebarran and her brother proceeded to the Kitty Police Station, where they reported what happened. She noted that while there one of the officers informed them that he overheard on the radio that a lady also made a complaint about the white vehicle almost running her off the road on Carifesta Avenue. Seebarran added that the officers then told them that because the accident occurred in the Alberttown district, they had to go to the Alberttown Police Station. She said they did as they were told and officers at Alberttown then told them they were free to go home. She added that her brother begged the Police Sergeant to escort them home, which he did.
On Tuesday, the army said Pyle was on a “legitimate operation” in support of SOCU.
The statement came mere hours after the Private Sector Commission called on the police and the army to confirm media reports that Pyle was in an operation targeted at civilians.
President David Granger on Wednesday said he saw no need for a full probe.
“I don’t think it requires a full probe because Sergeant Pyle was on an official mission at the time and it was quite an unfortunate accident in which three persons died so we certainly regret the loss of life but I don’t see there is need for a probe at the present time,” he told reporters.
Told that the opposition PPP/C has since accused the government of using the army to do political work, he responded that there has always been a pattern of Joint Services collaboration between the GDF and the Guyana Police Force. “Whenever the need arises the police force can call on the defence force for assistance. This has taken place over the last 60 years,” he said.
Asked if it mean putting civilians under surveillance by the military, he stressed that the “Defence Force and the Police Force are responsible for state security.”
When asked who sanctioned the mission that Pyle was on, Granger told reporters that as far as he knows SOCU is conducting some investigations and it is “assumed that the request may have come from the police force to the defence force.”
