Tonight, Police Constable David Griffith, who was attached to the Punta Gorda Police Station, is out on bail after being taken to court allegedly for killing Rasheed Eligio, a prisoner who escaped from police custody last year.
On May 10, 2013, Eligio was arrested for carnal knowledge. He was handcuffed to another prisoner, Brian Garcia, and they were going to be transported to the Belize Central Prison after being arraigned and remanded. The officers were waiting on a James Bus to escort them, but Eligio and Garcia saw an opportunity to escape, and they took it.
3 hours later, police tracked both men down in the Carib Reserve Area, and when the men realized that the officers were on to them, they tried to run a second time. In the process of trying to the detain them, one of the officers opened fire and fatally injured Eligio. Immediately after the shooting, the Police Press Office released Griffith's name as the officer who called the station informing them that Eligio was shot and killed in an attempt to detain him.
Eligio's family was outraged and demanded that police criminally charg someone for his death. Well, over a year has passed, and after a lengthy investigation, police today charged Griffith with manslaughter.
He was arraigned this morning in San Ignacio Magistrate's Court before Magistrate Nardia Morgan, and because the offence is indictable, no plea was taken. He was released on bail of $8,000 dollars and his case has been adjourned until October 29.
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