A 26-year-old Princes Street, Lodge resident who was taken into custody yesterday morning has confessed to setting the fire which destroyed more than 80 percent of the Brickdam Police Station.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum this morning confirmed that Clarence Greene and two other prisoners are presently the subject of the probe.
The trio are said to be cooperating with investigators.
Information reaching Stabroek News revealed that during questioning two prisoners who were in the Brickdam lockups when the fire broke out claimed that after they noticed the fire and were evacuated from their cells, Greene reportedly told them that he had taken a piece of sponge, wrapped it up on a piece of wire and set it alight.
Greene, they said then allegedly pushed it through a ventilation hole to a section of the station which contained some documents. The sponge came into contact with the documents causing the fire.
Greene was video-interviewed and he confessed to carrying out the act, police sources say.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that Greene claimed that one of the prisoners provided him with the piece of wire.
He said he tore off a piece of sponge from a mattress in the cell he was in, hooked it on the wire and lit same with a lighter.
Greene was arrested yesterday morning for questioning in relation to an alleged armed robbery.
He reportedly told investigators that the motive for his act was because he was frustrated since he had been detained at Brickdam for several hours.
A statement from the police force follows:
Brickdam Fire Update: Armed robbery suspect Clarence Greene confessed to setting fire
The Guyana Police Force is sparing no effort as it continues the investigation into yesterday’s devastating fire which destroyed the Brickdam Police Station complex in Georgetown. As the investigations continue, investigators have managed to get a confession (on video) from a prisoner – Clarence Greene, an unemployed 26-year-old of …Princes Street, Lodge.