U.S. citizen remanded to prison

On Wednesday he was stopped by police for a traffic violation and when taken in to the station he attacked the arresting officer and tried to drive out of the compound. A bullet fired into a tire stopped his flight and today the thirty three year old American identified as William Shaw, was remanded to Hattieville prison while he awaits trial. But News Five has learned that Shaw’s temper tantrum on Raccoon Street was not his first brush with Belizean authorities. According to immigration officials at the Santa Elena border, Shaw tried to enter Belize on Monday, January twelfth. He was turned back because he did not have a passport, but apparently the visitor from the north wanted to enter Belize so badly that he came back and just drove right through the Customs check point. A chase ensued but apparently whatever vehicle the law was driving was no match for Shaw’s big four wheeler. At that point the system apparently broke down, because although the border post alerted police in Corozal, when they couldn’t find him, the rest of the country was never notified. Thus it was by sheer luck that the cops stopped Shaw two days later on the Western Highway. So who is this stranger whose only I.D. is a homemade document with his picture in it? That’s what officials in Belmopan and on Gabourel Lane are trying to figure out, to see if the gentleman now behind bars is just a tourist with a bad attitude or one of America’s most wanted. In related news, the top spot at the U.S. embassy is no longer vacant as newly appointed ambassador Carolyn Curiel arrived in the country yesterday. She will assume her official duties once she has presented her credentials to the Governor General on Monday morning in Belmopan.