A police pursuit along the Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) Public Road on Friday night has left a 26-year-old man dead and a teenage girl seriously injured.
Dead is Akeem Ming, 26, of Lot 4505 Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown.
The injured teenager has been identified as Crystal Hoasjoe, 17, of Crown Street, Queenstown, Georgetown, who sustained multiple injuries about her body and is currently admitted at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
The accident occurred around 10.30 pm. At the time, Ming was the rider of a motorcycle, CJ 1204, with Hoasjoe as the pillion rider.
According to a police report, Ming was proceeding east along the public road and upon noticing a police force pick-up he “accelerated”.
As a result, the police said Ming lost control and crashed into a car, PLL 3026 and a truck, GYY 7016, which were parked on the northern side of the road.
Both Ming and Hoasjoe fell onto the road and received injuries about their bodies.
They were both unconscious when they were picked up and taken to the GPH. Ming was pronounced dead on arrival while Hoasjoe was admitted.
Surveillance footage of the accident that was shared with Sunday Stabroek showed the police pick-up in close pursuit of the motorbike. It appears as though Ming was being chased by the force vehicle, which eventually forced him to crash into the parked vehicles. The police did not mention a chase in their statement.
The police pick-up continued to drive following the crash. It is unclear if it stopped at any point.
At Ming’s home yesterday, a cousin, Ewart Benjamin, told Sunday Stabroek that at the scene on Friday night, persons who witnessed the accident told relatives that Ming was allegedly struck by the police pick-up, causing him to crash into the parked vehicles.
However, Benjamin said it was not until the family saw the video footage yesterday that they were able to confirm the claims.
“At the scene last night (Friday), people were saying the police hit him (Ming). They saying like is a hit and run something. We saw the video and we saw the distance from where the police hit him from. Persons relate and say that the police had no siren sound on,” Benjamin said.
According to Benjamin, as far as he is aware the police had no reason to chase after Ming. He said Ming was with a group of friends who were either on motorcycles also or in vehicles.
“It’s not a child that would cause a problem with the law. Nothing illegal. There wasn’t a cause for them to go after him. And that is what triggering me right now….Everybody want to know what is the cause for this… Let’s say it’s a high speed chase and you got seven motorcycles, why you chase that particular one?” Benjamin questioned.
“What the footage is showing, it wasn’t a high speed chase. I am telling you that from my heart because I know the law….The police siren wasn’t on. The lights was just flashing as normal as how the police does flash the lights and stuff like that,” he further stated.
Benjamin said Ming never had an issue with the law. He said Ming worked as a security guard at a private security company and was a licensed firearm holder.
“….You coulda see he was riding normal. He don’t have any cause to ride away from the police. If they want to say helmet, he gonna stop, he gonna explain to them whatever, go to the station and whatever and that is it….But as they say dead man don’t tell no tales….But I am telling you, he ain’t got nothing with the law that they can claim X,Y, Z,” Benjamin added.
Attempts by Sunday Stabroek to seek clarity from the police on the facts of the accident yesterday proved futile.
The family said it is awaiting the result of the autopsy, which is scheduled for Monday, before deciding on what they do.
