Residents of Cameron Dam, Canal Number One said that murder accused Desmond James was hiding in an unfinished wooden shack along the dam since Friday after he was taken into the area allegedly by a female resident. It is not known whether police are seeking this woman or have questioned her.
They said that while they noticed a strange individual occupying the shack, they had no idea it was one of the escapees from the Camp Street prison since he never gave them an opportunity to get a glimpse of his face.
James, one of the six inmates who escaped from the George-town Prison last Sunday, was apprehended by the police on Friday evening.
Commander of ‘D’ Division Leslie James had confirmed that around 10:50 pm on Friday, acting on information received, the police went to Cameron Dam where they conducted a search and found James.
At the time of his discovery, James had a knife and several pieces of clothing in his possession. He had told the police that he planned to travel to Essequibo.
When Sunday Stabroek visited the area yesterday residents said they had no idea “a criminal was dwelling” among them.
One woman, who did not wish to be named, said that on Friday morning she noticed a woman, who once resided two houses away from the shack where James was found, taking someone into the area in a hire car. “About 9’o clock she bring he. But I didn’t really realise anything because we thought is somebody fuh she or something. Is not till after the police come and so then we know what really did going on,” she said.
While she saw the woman in the car, she was unable to see James’s face. “She come in a hire car and well I didn’t suspect anything because he did bend down in the back seat when the car pass,” she said.
The resident explained that she went out and when she returned she asked several of her fellow villagers if they had noticed a strange individual in the area but they responded in the negative.
“But is hide he did hiding right in there,” the woman said as she pointed to the unfinished shack where James was arrested.
The woman explained that her husband usually parked his truck on the dam in front of their home after returning from work. “I come outside Friday night and I see somebody in all-over black run from the side of the truck. And when I do click back I say to myself that it got to be the same strange person that come in the morning,” she said.
Subsequently, she said, a man who shared a relationship with the same woman, complained to her about the strange individual in the area. “He tell we that he girl bring a wanted man in the place. So I seh, ‘Wha? From where?’ And he seh is one of them who escape from the prison,” she said.
She said she asked the man how he knew all this and he replied, ‘Y’all ain’t know story’. She said he also told her that “he can’t talk hard because is she movements.”
At this point in time, she said, “I tell my husband that this is a suspicious move and we can’t allow this person in this place. So I send he to a man who live more up the road and I seh you got to mek a report and let the police come see if is one of the criminals or what,” she explained.
Her husband went and informed a fellow villager who contacted the police.
The villager, a farmer, said that he was sleeping on Friday evening when he was informed of his neighbour’s suspicious. As a result, he said, he immediately contacted one of his friends who is a rural constable. “I call he and he tell me he gone get onto the police. After a while they turn up and they find the man [James] in the house,” he related.
When the police arrived, the residents said, James attempted to escape but they “cranked the gun” and he stopped. He was then promptly handcuffed and taken away.
