(Jamaica Star) For the second time in a matter of days, policemen have been attacked while trying to get persons to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.
Last week, the police were stoned in Seaview Gardens in St Andrew by partygoers when they went to put to a stop to an unauthorised event in that community.
Last Saturday, police met resistance from patrons at a party in Parry Town in St Ann. A police service vehicle was vandalised in that incident.
Reports that about 9:30 p.m., a police team was on patrol when they observed what appeared to be a party in progress in breach of the Disaster Risk Management Act.
ARRESTED AND CHARGED
The officers instructed that the music be turned off and instructed them to go home. A man, 31-year old Rashant Lawrence, who was later identified as the promoter of the event, became boisterous and objected to the party ending. He ran, but after a brief chase, was arrested and charged with breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act and resisting arrest.
While Lawrence was being arrested, a group of angry patrons who were leaving the event hurled boulders and other missiles into the windows of the vehicle, and slashed the tyres.
A wrecker towed the vehicle to the police station. The St Ann police have launched an investigation into the incident, and forensic investigators are currently utilising the relevant science and technology to help determine who may have been involved.
Parry Town has become a crime hotspot in recent years, accounting for several murders in St Ann. Councillor for the Beecher Town division, Ian Bell, said the stoning was “really an unfortunate situation”.
“This behaviour should not be condoned in any aspect of life. Worse, it was during the curfew hours,” Bell said.
Jamaica, up to yesterday, had 6,017 COVID cases, and 89 deaths. The latest death was a 69-year-old female from St Ann. There are 4,153 active cases, and 1,706 have recovered.
