Email

Print

First time ever that's happened - and so today we went Taylor's Alley to ask how they feel about the unprecedented apology. One of the men who was brutalized told us, straight up - apology not accepted:..

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"I don't know what will be the outcome or how they will deal with their unit, but it will still exist, it will only be calmed down for a little while. At the end of the day, if something doesn't get resolved of this it is wrong because they just came and brutalized us for no reason when they could have dealt with us like human beings because we are not animals."

"I am still paying my doctor bills. I have a fractured jaw; I have a pin in my chin. I also have a fractured shoulder; I cannot do anything with my hands. I am still taking x-rays on my foot. I had a hole in my hand, so it's still not yet fully functional."

"I just want to know what will be the outcome. I cannot question them because it's the higher authorities that gave them the order. After the incident we went to see the ombudsman, and Hon. Mark King came to talk to us also, but we didn't get any answer. So far I didn't get any answer."

Reporter
"Answer to what?"

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"Like if we need any assistance or...."

Reporter
"You've ask for assistance?"

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"We asked, but they didn't push any issue to say that they will give us a little assistance. They don't have to give us any money; they can send us to the hospital because I had to pay my own medical bills. My boss "trip" on me because I am a public servant, I work at the Housing and Planning department."

"Each x-ray I took is $30; I took 3 on my jaw, 2 on my shoulder, one on my elbow and one on my foot. That alone came up to about $200 plus. I had to pay $150 extra for the doctors to work on my jaw. This is what they put us through; they put me through an expense that I didn't have to go through."

"I just want to know what will be the outcome, I cannot question it."

Marion Ali, LOVE NEWS
"So "I am sorry is not enough" is that what you are saying?"

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"No, because they dealt with us brutally. We need to take this further because this is serious; other people deal with them the same way, so I don't see why we have to get fan off, and they tell us sorry. It's not like we got a direct apology, but we understand that."

"When we saw the news last night we were shocked. Some of us didn't know that they had apologized. People tell us that they apologized. We don't really know what is going on. We want to know what will be the outcome."

"I am not happy with that apology."

Marion Ali, LOVE NEWS
"You guys are suing. What are you suing for? as a group?"

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"As a group, but it's like I say. We didn't get any feedback from the ombudsman as yet. They haven't called us to see how far this issue is going or who will help us. We hear that they will give us a lawyer, but as far as that, only somebody else can answer that. I don't know what will be the outcome. I am still waiting to see if I will get some answers."

"They didn't find anything on us. They just brutalized us. They didn't come with a search warrant for drugs and ammunition. They just kicked us down and started to search."

Reporter
"Any charges were made on any one of you guys?"

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"They didn't charge us, they just beat us up. We had to carry ourselves to the hospital that night. I had money, and I was robbed that night. Whosoever searches me knows that they took my money. I had a good amount of money on me, and they took half of that out of my pocket."

Marion Ali, LOVE NEWS
"Will that be a part of your lawsuit?"

Tulio Caceres, Victim of police brutality
"Of course. I don't know how true it is, but someone told me after they beat up us they went to the tacos stand on Albert Street."

And while Taylor's Alley isn't happy, neither is George Street. In late August that Gang was viciously targeted by the GSU - which exploded into the hysteria which ultimately led to the gang truce.

But the abuses against them - which were more serious - were never investigated or apologized for.

And now, they've issued a press release. It says:

"we the residents of George Street would like to ask the Commissioner of Police and Minister of Police to do an investigation on our incident which arose from the brutal beating of Masked Gang Suppression Unit team who came to 87 George Street on the night of August 27th 2011 after the funeral of Charles Woodeye. It is only fair that we get the chance from the newly form Committee to do an investigation to see if the beating and arrest of over 20 persons was justified. We the residents wait to get a response from the Commissioner." End quote.

The Press Release is signed by those who were badly beaten. Today Zayne Galvez - one of those who were beaten in the George Street incident told us he is happy that Taylors Alley received some form of justice but is still waiting on his. Galvez who was beaten by police last August while delivering beverages to a resident on George Street - received a broken right arm and had to undergo 2 surgeries. He was left with a 12 thousand dollar medical bill, a bruised up arm and, according to him, no justice. Here's what he said today.

Zayne Galvez, Victim of police brutality
"I didn't even get a letter or a card (get well soon), phone call, nothing at all. We still had to run up behind them to see how we could further our case and what legal action we could take. We took the legal action, and we still didn't get a word or compensation for the medical bills or anything of that sort."

"They claim that they investigated it, and that some shooting had happened why they had to use excessive force. But up to this day we can't get evidence of the shooting or why force was justified. We are still here waiting for answers. We are still hoping and praying that we get compensation and a little bit of justice for ourselves."

Monica Bodden
"I understand that your injury isn't fully healed."

Zayne Galvez, Victim of police brutality
"Not as yet, I would put it at 60% recovery. I still have a lot of therapy. I still can't fully extend my arm, I can't use at as how I once did. I can't really work. At this point I am hoping and praying that justice comes our way. There is nothing much else that we can do."

"I don't know if it's due to threats or whatever the reason may be why those guys got their compensation or justice in that sense, but for us we try to do it by the law. We don't really want to go out there and cause any problems. The violence needs to stop. We are trying to see how best we can work with it with our lawyers and hopefully something comes through at the end of the day."

"The cost was almost $12,000 for the two surgeries in total because they had to do a procedure where they put in pins and some wires to hold the bone together and then I had to do another procedure to take it out. In all there were two surgeries and a whole lot of money spent."

"I really wanted an internal investigation as well. I want justice just like everybody else. We are not animals for people to beat us."

We'll keep following the story.