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Mar 25, 1998

Belize City youth allege police brutality

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It sounded just like a scene from one of those movies you see on TV, two young men dumped in the trunk of a car and taken on a ride of a lifetime. Only this was no movie. But according to Belize City resident, Darrington Lauriano, that’s exactly what happened to him and a friend shortly after eleven o’clock Tuesday night. According to the youth, he and his friend were approached by two known police officers who were heavily armed, and for no apparent reason at all were ordered inside the trunk of their vehicle. Lauriano said once they were inside, the officers slammed the trunk shut, got into the vehicle and drove off with them.

Darrington Lauriano

“Well ahm, me and my friend Casey that just come in from America? Me and he went by Excellency di buy two chicken. So on our way back we stop, corner Church and George Street, you know, sitting down talk and eat chicken when up comes from Cemetery Road down George Street a Cadillac. When he look up he said, “What police!” When we look, the four doors opened and they come out with their guns pointing at us and said, “Don’t move”. So we don’t move and just stand up. They rub us down, they didn’t find nothing on us so ahm, Broaster said, “Okay, unuh get in.” So we si the four doors open so we thought it was to the front of the car. Later on the trunk open and they said get in there. There was where they wanted us. So we sit in there. They said no don’t sit they said get down. They put us down, push down our heads and slam down the door on our heads. They take us? We thought they was going to take us straight to the station but you could feel in the car that they were taking us all round, and about you know for approximately half an hour. You know, you could have suffocate in there.”

Q: “Then the vehicle came to a stop?”

Darrington Lauriano

“Yea, finally the vehicle came to a stop when it opened up… I wasn’t conscious it was in the station yard because when we looked around it was all the way in the back. And then we like seh, oh this is station and we come out, walk in the front. So they take the other guy Casey and take him upstairs. So Mr. Broaster call me and said you come here, “You see dem vehicles, wash dem til dem shine.” So I did what they said, right.”

Q: “This was Mr. Edward Broaster?”

Darrington Lauriano

“Yea, Edward Broaster. Yea, he da C.Y.D.P. head.”

Q: “No reason as to why they took you guys in?”

Darrington Lauriano

“No reason at all.”

When we contacted Inspector Edward Broaster and ask him about the incident, Broaster could not recall the event, and emphatically denied knowing any Darrington Lauriano.


Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.

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