The manager of a city store is seeking to be heard, after his reports about a “mentally ill” vagrant who continually throws objects into the store, placing staff and customers in danger, went unheard by the police.
Kirk Collete, the manager of NP Electronics International, located on Robb Street, told Stabroek News that a vagrant threw a glass bottle into his store yesterday, causing fear in his staff members. He noted that similar incidents have been occurring throughout the month, all of which have been initiated by the same vagrant.
One memorable incident, Collete related, was when a child was almost hit by shards of glass from a bottle which the vagrant had thrown into the store and another, when a customer was almost hit by a brick which was also thrown into the store.
Collette further said that he called the police numerous times but related that all efforts to obtain assistance have been futile as they refuse to answer or they hang up. “I am so fed up”, Colette stated.
Another staff member of NP Electronics, Leonard Kissoon, said he personally went to the Brickdam Police Station sometime during the course of last week to report one of the incidents but the police still haven’t visited the store to investigate the matter. When Stabroek News contacted the police station to enquire as to why they hadn’t, they said they would need the exact date the report was made in order to give out the information.
Other staff members who work in stores located in the vicinity, voiced similar complaints against the vagrant, who was commonly referred to as “the mad man”.
An employee of Stabroek News, Trevoll Pereira, also related that on January 15, around 6 pm, the security guards were alerted by the staff of the Police Consumers Super-market that the vagrant had thrown a glass bottle at his car and broken his window screen. Pereira said that when he went outside, he saw the vagrant pacing up and down the street with a broken bottle in his hands. He saw a police patrol car and alerted them and the vagrant was arrested. However, he later heard that the police came back and released the vagrant right back on Robb Street.
Pereira said he later followed up the matter at the Brickdam Police Station but he was told that there was nothing they could do considering the man is mentally ill and they can’t place him in the lockups with the other prisoners.
It was also stated by Pereira that before the attack on his car, he learnt that a group of boys had assaulted the vagrant, triggering the attack on the vehicle. He further reported that after the man was brought back to Robb Street, the same group of boys returned and assaulted him once more.
A staff member of Kissoon’s Furniture, also related a similar story in which the vagrant was being provoked by a group of school children. She said it is usually after being provoked that the he reacts in a violent way.
Pereira also stressed that there is a definite need for a place to help mentally-ill persons. “One day somebody will get hurt, a child can get hurt”, he reasoned.
