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‘Griga Robbery Suspect Claims Severe Police Brutality
posted (May 8, 2015)
Right now, 21 year-old John Pasqual, a resident of Dangriga Town is at the KHMH receiving treatment for what appears to be a brain injury. His family is claiming that police from Dangriga put a beat down on him, and caused the injuries.

Pascual, who has been encountered by police before, is accused of participating in the robbery of a drug store with 2 other men which happened on last week Friday night. The details, as far as we were informed, is that police responded to the robbery in progress, and saw when the men were trying to escape. A few shots were fired, and Pasqual, according to his family, jumped off the bridge into the water to avoid being captured by police.

His brother, who was allegedly a witness to the crime, reportedly went to where Pasqual was hiding, and escorted him to the police station, and handed him over to police, knowing that he was one of the prime suspects. That's where the situation gets clouded, and his family says that between Friday night and Tuesday when he was finally arrested and charged for robbery, he was injured in the head, reportedly in police custody, and now he has suffered some effects of what appears to be brain injury. His sister, who asked to appear off camera, explained what she knows about the robbery and the alleged police brutality:

Voice of Brutality Victim
"He robbed the pharmacy. He was in an accident where they had a robbery with a pharmacy, he and two other guys. And he was the one, he was the closest one to the police because he jumped in the water. He jumped in the river and his brother was out there, but I'll leave him to do the talking when he comes. But he was the one who gave his brother to the police. Maybe he thought that my brother had no one there, you know. And he, instead of taking him to Dangriga police station, because he didn't get shot. They took him to an area called 'up jetty' and just took things in their own hands. And they just did whatever they wanted to do with him, beating him in his head. And I know they beat him, I know he got beaten. Because my brother is just a totally different person right now from where I left him. He can't stand, he can't eat, he can't even talk, and he doesn't even know that you know when it's me or anyone else in front of him. The police took matters into their own hands. What really hurt me is because his brother already gave him to the police. They should have just taken him to the police station and lock him up, you know. I left it like that because I thought they were doing their job you know. So it just really got to me because I was just trying to be nice to the police. I was trying to cooperate with the police and ask for assistance, you know. And they really treated me like I was an animal because of the condition that they knew they had my brother in... Yes I understand he did something wrong and when you do wrong you get punished by the law. But then not like that you know because they really beat him in his head. I went straight to the Dangriga southern regional hospital. I went straight there and to find out that my brother was you know, not responding to anything. He couldn't even see, open his eyes, talk, nothing. His face was swollen, the only thing he continuously touch is his head. So I guess that's where he got the most hurt, his head you know. And they really, while I was at the hospital I got to see him and I said 'okay I will go home and cook something for him and bring it back'. By the time I went back to Dangriga hospital, the police already took him. I don't know who told them to take him, they had a paper stating that the doctor said that nothing was wrong with him. And so they took him from the hospital. But a lot is wrong with him because right now his brain is bleeding. We went to court, while in court he couldn't even respond to the magistrate and me personally, I know that the magistrate knew that there was something wrong with this guy. They read the next guy his charge, it was supposed to be three of them, and one of them is missing. And they read the other guy his charge. They couldn't even read more charges to my brother because he's not even understanding the judge. They asked him how old is he, does he know where he is, you know and he doesn't respond, and his neck is just all the way back. He's sitting in a wheel chair all messed up. So they just gave him a date when to come to court which is June the 14th. When they arrived at KHMH, the only thing left was to take a head scan, a cat scan for the head. And that was when the doctor found out that his brain is bleeding slowly."

Reporter
"So what's his status currently?"

Voice of Brutality Victim
"Well he's there you know. They were to perform a surgery but they are giving him like two more days. Two more days to see how it goes because surgeries are very risky you know. And before he goes into surgery, and don't make it, if it's not that big where his brain will bleed out. Then maybe he won't take the surgery. But their giving it two more days just to see how it goes and then if he needs the surgery he'll be taking it. Because he can't go to corporate foundation like that. What we're hearing from the doctors is that he goes and comes. He goes into seizures and the seizures because of the knocks he got in his head right. I guess more than one hit that he got in his head, he goes and comes like sometimes I ask him if he knows if it's me in front of him and he says he doesn't know who's talking to him, he doesn't know where he is and stuff like that. So I have to remind him that he's under police watch just to let him not get up and do anything foolish."

This evening, we contacted Supt. Roy Joseph, the Officer Commanding Dangriga Police, and he told us that as far as he is aware, none of the police officers inflicted any sort of injury to Pascual while he was detained pending investigation for the robbery.

He, like Pasqual's family, pointed out to us that when the officers pursued him during the robbery in progress, Pasqual jumped off the bridge to avoid being detained. Supt. Joseph suggested that there is the possibility that he injured himself when he did that.

He did tell us that because an allegation has been made against Dangriga police, he is obliged to investigate it thoroughly, and he also reminded us that the Department has a zero tolerance policy for police brutality, if it can be proven.

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