Witnesses say police ran down suspect with vehicle

A young man is hospitalized after being hit by a car on Monday night on Plues Street. Police say two officers, Assistant Inspector Eli Salazar and Corporal Fitzroy Yearwood observed four youths on Church Street approach another youth and demand money. When they were refused, one of the men hit the youth, later identified as Clive Sutherland in the head with a pint bottle. Police say A.I.P. Salazar apprehended one of the youths, Arrilon Young when he ran into their vehicle. He lost consciousness and was taken to K.H.M.H. Police say they later apprehended Kirk Goff, a cyclist from Plues Street and have charged him with attempted robbery and wounding. However, today Goff and Sandra Young who says she saw the incident told News Five a very different version of events. Goff says he and four friends were on their way to buy chicken at Holiday on Orange Street early Monday when one of them got into a fight. After that Goff says someone started following them in a car, they got scared and ran.

Kirk Goff

“Around our house we went to buy a chicken from Holiday Fry Chicken shop. On the way we met a fellow and like he was acting jumpy and Arrilon got frustrated. And he and the boy had a fist fight and he knocked down the boy.”

Goff says after this incident they noticed a gray car with tinted windows bearing down on them near Orange Street. He and his friends started to run and some of them met up again on Plues Street.

Kirk Goff

“By the time I hit a yard I heard a vehicle go bang. I wanted to know what went on. I thought it was the vehicle that crashed. With the speed of what the person was coming with they could definitely not turn a curve.”

Goff says that he only went into a yard near his house because he was afraid for his own life and that was the only place he could hide. He says he had no idea that when he came out of his hiding spot he would see his friend Arrilon lying in the drain. Sandra Young was nearby and says she saw the car hit Arrilon.

Sandra Young, Eyewitness

“When we came outside it was a gray car with tinted glass and it had high beam. We just saw when it knocked Arrilon and it knocked him from his gate to the corner of South Street. The car did not stop. When it did stop was when Arrilon reached down in the drain underneath of a cement. He left him there about an hour gone at the next door neighbor. He knocked down the young man door, stamp it down and put the young man outside.”

Young says when she and other neighbors tried to assist Arrilon who was still in the drain they were told by the driver of the car that they were not doctors or nurses. She says other police officers then came and picked up Arrilon and took him to the hospital. She alleges that the officer who came out the gray vehicle which knocked down Arrilon smelled of alcohol.

Hyacinth Latchman for News Five.

News Five contacted Assistant Police Commissioner Hughington Williams who says the incident is under investigation and they have no comment about Assistant Inspector Salazar’s involvement at this time. Arrilon Young is at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and told News Five he does not remember being knocked down.