Roger Gautier, the man who was assaulted by a minibus driver following an accident on the East Bank Demerara, yesterday said that he has been told by the police that his assailant has been charged.
Gautier, who was assaulted on October 25, stated that he only found out that the man that hit him would be charged the day he had to report to the Providence Police Station to have measurements taken for the accident that had occurred.
He stated that no one has called him since to give him the return date as it relates to the charge against his assailant.
Attempts yesterday by Stabroek News to contact traffic ranks at the Providence Police Station as a means of seeking clarity on the matter proved futile.
Gautier, who lost his right arm in an accident approximately eight years ago, was dealt a cuff to the jaw by the minibus driver following the incident near the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which resulted in him suffering a burst lip.
Stabroek News was made aware of the matter after a letter was sent to this newspaper by an eyewitness, Paul Fraser, who reported being threatened for standing up for the handicapped driver of the car and intervening to stop a further assault.
“…On the afternoon of October 25, 2016, at about 4:30pm, I was driving on the East Bank road, heading south on the western carriageway of the road in the lane designated by police to southbound traffic during the daily rush hour,” he wrote. “As I was in front of the Harbour Bridge Mall, a mini bus, licence plate #BNN 3629, which was in the lane to my right, and was northbound, bumped into the back of a car which was in front of him.”
Gautier explained that the minibus driver had collided with his car after he denied him the opportunity to cut in front of him. Gautier was driving behind his wife at the time and had been on his way to pick up his children from school. His five-year-old child was in the vehicle with him at the time.
Fraser related in the letter that the driver of the minibus after colliding with the back of Gautier’s car, exited his vehicle and proceeded to verbally and physically abuse the man, proclaiming that he was employed at the Ministry of the Presidency. A GDF soldier sat in the assailant’s vehicle throughout the incident, didn’t attempt to intervene and in the end raised his voice in support of the minibus driver. Stabroek News has been unable to ascertain whether the minibus driver was indeed associated with the Ministry of the Presidency.
On October 31st, in response to a question from Stabroek News, acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine said the assailant would be charged.
