7 News Belize

Compol Jeffries Dismisses Accident Inquiry
posted (August 9, 2011)
Police Commissioner Crispin Jeffries knocked down a motorcycle driver on Friday afternoon, but it seems he won't be charged.

That's because police have charged Vince Parks - the motor-bike man - for causing the accident which occurred on the Western highway near the Faber's road junction

Now, Parks was rear-ended by the Commissioner. Jeffries says Parks was making a u-turn and had not cleared traffic on both sides of the highway.

Today we tried to ask the Commissioner about that when we met him at an official function discussing a new firearms programme.

He made it clear he didn't like us changing the subject:

Jules Vasquez Reporting:

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, if you rear-ended somebody, why weren't you served with a notice of intended prosecution?"

Crispin Jeffries - Commissioner of Police
"That has nothing to do with firearms."

Jules Vasquez
"But it's a relevant question, sir, you're the head of the law enforcement in Belize, and you were involved in an accident where you rear-ended someone."

Crispin Jeffries - Commissioner of Police
"Jules, I think that your tried a trick question, and I am not discussing."

Jules Vasquez
"But, you're publicly obliged to account for yourself; you were involved in an accident."

Crispin Jeffries - Commissioner of Police
"I believe the the matter of the accident was published. It is not normal that we give a lot of details about accidents. But I think that you're trying to put me on the spot because you have a microphone and a camera, and I am ending the conversation, thank you."

And while the Commissioner was curt and dismissive as usual, the man he knocked down, Vince Parks says he has to speak out. The 40 year old technician has been served with two charges: "Driving without due care and failed to give way to a motor vehicle when changing direction."

All that, and he says he's the victim. He has a huge gash in the back of his head and his cycle is bent up.

He says it's unjust:



Vince Parks, knocked down by COMPOL
"I feel that I was in the right, and he was in the wrong, seriously."

Parks says that on Friday afternoon he dropped someone at this church on the Western Highway - and turned carefully to head back to the city:

Vince Parks
"I looked right first; I looked left. A vehicle was coming from up the road, alright. And then, I pulled out after I indicated that I was turning left. No vehicle was coming from the city, going up the road. And I was doing about what - 10 to 15 miles an hour on the motorbike. And everything was okay until I got a point almost to like Fabers Road, and I felt something clip me from the back and pushed me about maybe 30 feet."

That something was Police Commissioner's Jeffries pickup truck:

Jules Vasquez
"He is saying that you did a poorly timed U-turn on the road, and you came directly into his way. You basically put yourself directly infront of his truck, and had no choice but to hit you. He couln't have done anything else."

Vince Parks
"Okay, well, first of all, that is a lie, because if I was to U-turn in front of Mr. Jeffries, the bike would show tell-tale signs of an accident."

Jules Vasquez
"Now he says, that you didn't put on your indicator."

Vince Parks
"Well, you know that he will say anything to change up the story, and..."

Jules Vasquez
"Did you put it on?"

Vince Parks
"Yes I did, and like I said, I've been riding these bikes for years, and I know how to ride these bikes. Nowhere in the world, that you can make a U-turn, and then the back of your bike - the light an liciense playes bent in. What kind of stupid - That's crazy."

And Parks claims, Jeffries offered to assist him:

Vince Parks
"Mr. Jeffries, himself, came into the hospital to check on me and say, 'Well, these things don't really happen to me. And I'm sorry, and this and that. And he really sounded that he had good intentions as if he wanted to work with me or help me get the bike fix, and this and that.' but all of a sudden, he is changing his mouth."

If that's true, he is not only changing his mouth; these charges show that it's the police department and their boss against Parks:

Vince Parks
"I do think that it's an injustice being done to me, because I know for a fact, as God is my witness, I did not do anything wrong. I came out - what sense does it make for a person to come out, and they know that a vehicle is coming from up the road at a certain speed? Well if that person doesn't have enough judgement to say, 'Well, let me wait for this vehicle to pass.' Why would I just ride out in front of him knowning that he was coming at speed like that?"

Jules Vasquez
"Were you completely sober?"

Vince Parks
"I wasn't drinking anything, smoking anything. I was in the right state of mind. He seems like he is above the law and nobody can't really get to him like that, or really decide to take this man to court. I mean, it's always some kind of loop-hole - some kind of lie, where they change their story. It doesn't make any sense. And these are the people that we are looking up to protect us and to help us in times of need. And this is what they're going to do to the citizen down here. It doesn't make any sense."

Jeffries claims that Parks did not clear traffic and turned into his lane.

We might point out that - with no intended discredit to the traffic department - we can see how it would be kind of difficult to charge your boss - especially when that boss, Commissioner Jeffries, is known for what his own minister called a very hands-on management style.

In such a case, we are told, it would have been the advised position to send the matter to the DPP for her to decide who should be charged for what.

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