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Cops Shoot Alleged Rapist As He Rides Off
posted (August 14, 2017)
On Saturday a 19-year-old woman reported to police that some time around 4:30 that day, she caught a ride with a stranger on a motorcycle, heading from Hopkins to the Southern Highway junction. But driver didn't stop at the junction; he continued past Maya Center Village and eventually turned down a feeder road between Miles 18 and 19. After they stopped, the man allegedly forced himself upon the woman and raped her. She was eventually able to escape and ran onto the highway where a passerby gave her a ride to the Santa Cruz Police Station.

Police took the woman back to the scene where she was able to identify the alleged rapist by his tattoo. Police ordered the man to stop but he sped off, causing police to set chase. During the chase, the cops fired one shot hitting the motorcyclist on the left foot and disabling the motorcycle. The man was then taken back to the police station, where he was identified as 19-year-old Andy Pop and later transported to the Southern Regional Hospital.

And while the cops have Pop in custody there's still an investigation to be done. Because the police involved in the chase fired a shot at Pop, the police Professional Standards Branch is required to perform an investigation to ensure that no excessive force was used. ACP Chester Williams explains.

ACP Chester Williams, OC - Professional Standards Branch
"There is also an incident in Maya Center Village where a female had reported to the police that she had caught a ride with an individual from Hopkins junction to take her to Maya Center. And upon reaching Maya Center, the individual passed the village, despite being signaled to stop, as the young lady realized that she had reached her destination. The individual then took her to a feeder road where he allegedly had sexual intercourse with her against her will. She managed to escape from the individual and went to notify the police. The police immediately responded to the area with the female and upon getting there, they saw the said individual as he was pointed out to the police by the female. The police signaled the individual to stop and sought to place the person under arrest and the person insisted on fleeing from the police. The police then used his issued firearm and fired one single shot with the intention of disabling the motorcycle. He eventually caught the person on the foot, as well as disabling the motorcycle and took the person into custody. That person is currently in police custody awaiting to be charged with the crime of rape. I must say that the police officer in question did act bravely in trying to apprehend the individual; nonetheless, there is still an internal investigation just to ascertain that the level of force used was justified by law. And that investigation is ongoing and as soon as we have determined whether or not there is justification then that information will be released to the media. But at this time, the police officer is still on active duty and we commend him for the good work, in terms of ensuring that the individual who had raped this young lady was caught and in custody."

And there are still other ongoing police professional standards investigations ongoing. We'll tell you about it when we come back.

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