Clarence Greene, the man who allegedly set the fire which destroyed the Brick-dam Police Station on Saturday, remains in police custody and is likely to appear in court today.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum confirmed that investigators were up to last night preparing to send the case file in the matter for legal advice on the way forward.
Greene was arrested by the police around 4.30 am on Saturday in relation to an armed robbery.
Hours after, police said Greene confessed to setting the fire which destroy-ed more than 80 percent of the Brickdam Police Sta-tion. The confession, police said was video recorded.
Stabroek News was previously informed that Greene confided in two other prisoners who were in the Brickdam lockups when the fire broke out.
On Tuesday, Greene’s attorney/s had alleged on social media that he was assaulted by the police and forced into giving the confession.
However, the police in a statement on Tuesday night denied the lawyer/s claim. “…It is clear the suspect was under no form of duress at the time he explained to the police how he started the fire,” the statement said.
The police noted that in keeping with its procedures, the evidence of the video confession would be prepared for court.
The video confession was yesterday afternoon shown to the media.
During the video which was seen by Stabroek News, Greene confessed to the crime even after he was cautioned and reminded of his right to remain silent or to have an attorney.
He further said that he was neither threatened nor assaulted while in custody nor were any of his rights violated.
Greene was then asked to provide a “step by step” account of the events leading up to the fire.
He explained that after he was handed over to ranks at the Brickdam station, a search was conducted on his persons which unearthed stolen items, a cigarette lighter and some “fine” change.
According to Greene, the items including the lighter were taken from his possession but he requested for it to be returned stating that from “time to time I does want smoke a cigarette”.
Greene said a rank on duty reportedly told him that the lighter would be returned to him once the process was completed. He added that he subsequently saw a police officer with a pack of cigarettes and he asked him for one.
At this point, Greene said he asked the police again for the lighter and it was given to him.
He further explained that he was taken upstairs to the lockup and placed in a cell.
While in the cell, Greene told investigators that he was alone and he became frustrated. “Cause is me alone in the cell. I did getting frustrated all the time,” Greene said.
Wire
Greene went on to state that he saw another prisoner walking past his cell to go to the washroom. At that time, he had already seen the wire but couldn’t access same. As such, he said he asked the prisoner to pass him the wire.
Once the wire was handed to him, Greene related that he bent it in two and tore a piece of sponge from the mattress.
He recalled that the sponge he used to set the fire could not have passed through the ventilation hole. “It was a diamond hole,” Greene said as he described the opening.
As such, Greene said he pushed the sponge on the wire halfway through the hole and set it alight.
The fire started in a section of the police station which housed the fraud department. This building was an old wooden structure which was located close to the lock-ups area.
Greene was on the second floor of the building where the lock-ups are housed.
Greene said he then went to sleep and was later awoken by another prisoner who came to his cell door and informed him of the fire. “When I catch me self….I did between sleep and wake…When I look up was fire. I de sweating,” Greene recalled.
From the time Greene was taken into custody up to before he was questioned in relation to the fire, he provided the police with several wrong names and addresses.
Among the addresses which he gave were Princes Street, Lodge, Charlestown and Sophia. The police were able to subsequently confirm that Greene resides in Charlestown.
Greene was previously incarcerated for armed robbery.
During a press conference on Saturday, Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie said that the fire started around 11.06am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound.
