Ombudsman/office terrorised by disgruntled citizen
It’s the Ombudsman’s job to hear complaints… and as annual reports reveal, the majority of those cases involve police brutality. But as the Ombudsman will tell you himself, not every report warrants an investigation and the matter is eventually dismissed. However, with that reality comes consequences from unhappy “victims.” On Thursday, the office of the Ombudsman came under attack when one of its vehicles was vandalised, apparently at the hands of a former complainant whose case was dropped. And according to Ombudsman Paul Rodriguez, the prime suspect in this latest incident is believed to be the same person who has been terrorising his employees. Today, Rodriguez told us that when he returned to work after lunch on Thursday afternoon, he found that someone had thrown a brick through the windshield of the office’s Jeep Cherokee. Rodriguez says recently the jeep’s tyres were also punctured. Because the Ombudsman’s office believes that the same person is responsible for all the attacks, the matter is now in the hands of the police.
Paul Rodriguez, Ombudsman
?About three years ago he made a complaint against the police claiming that the police had brutalised him, but the only evidence he had was his own words. We can?t uphold a complaint merely on the word of the person; we have to have other corroborative evidence. And since then he has acted irrationally and as I said, one time he was outside of our office on Regent Street holding a Molotov cocktail. I don?t know whether he really intended to throw it you know, but he had it or what looked like a Molotov cocktail.?
?Well I have reported it to the police. A person cannot damage public property and be getting away with it. So, yes, we reported it to the police and I believe the police have taken action, but I am not sure. They have not called me to tell me that they have detained anybody yet. We have done what are supposed to do; it is up to the police to follow up the matter. If it?s the person we think or not, it?s up to the police to try to find out as best they can.?
?It is the first time… well not the first time, but the only person who has targeted the office and me personally to try and hurt us I guess or intimidate us.?
?We do not see the need for any special security to?if you get into the matter of protecting against people who can harm you, I think you tend to isolate yourself and you put a block between yourself and people and we certainly, that?s the last thing I would want to do. We want people to feel free to come in and see us at any time. So at this time I do not see the need to take any extra precautions, but the ones already implemented.?
When News Five contacted the police, they told us that they are presently seeking the prime suspect in the case for questioning.
