Another claim of police brutality now in O.W.
He claims he was punched in the face by a police officer, and tonight nineteen-year-old Marvis Espinosa is in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital awaiting surgery to repair a broken jaw. It’s a story that starts early on Saturday morning, when Espinosa says he was going home from a night club in Orange Walk and was accosted by two of his fellow partygoers. The fight, says Espinosa, was the result of an incident inside the club, when he accidentally bumped into a patron causing him to spill his drink. Espinosa says while he was able to get away from his attackers and flag down a passing police patrol. But instead of getting help, he received a beating.
Marvis Espinosa, Alleges Police Brutality
?I have a mandible breakage. It?s broken completely through. So I have to undergo surgery in which they will put in braces in my jaw to keep the bone together so when it grows it could fuse back together.?
Patrick Jones
?How long will that take??
Marvis Espinosa
?Approximately six weeks to two months, which is eight weeks.?
Patrick Jones
?And this broken jaw, how did you sustain this??
Marvis Espinosa
?I sustain the broken jaw when the officer hit me in the mouth. He hit me more than one time and he hit me hard.?
Patrick Jones
?Were there any other police officers there? Did anybody else take part in the beating??
Marvis Espinosa
?Nobody else took part in the beating. But there were more police officers present. And I spoke to them and I told them officers, you all wah watch this policeman di beat me. They never reply, they never say nothing. They just stayed right there and watch until when the man pick me up by my throat and push me against the building. Then that dah when the policeman just grab the man hand and tell him boy relax you might kill this lee young boy out here. Those are the exact words of the other policemen who were out there. And before the police they interrupt, they took off their badges number before the come out of the vehicle. Like he know he would have beaten somebody.?
?To me I only know his as ?Cabo?. He actually punched me in the mouth which broke my jaw and I have to seek surgery tomorrow in this hospital to fix it.?
Espinosa says that during the altercation prior to his run-in with the police, someone stole his cellular phone, and he’s appealing to his assailants to give it back.
Marvis Espinosa
?Your friend, the same young boy weh unu beat up Friday night deh right here in front of the news, because this is the only way I could get my justice with unu. Because unu know weh unu do and people see. And people no wah shut up because people wah talk bout weh unu do, especially people from Orange Walk, weh know me because I well known.?
?Yes, they stole my cellular phone. And the guy who stole my cellular phone, you know you thief mi phone, just bring it back. It won?t hurt. You know you took it, people saw you take it. People saw when you put it in your pocket, be specific. They have eye witnesses. People see it and they will talk about it because I have my witnesses.?
Espinosa is scheduled to undergo surgery on Thursday morning at the KHMH. When contacted late this evening, officers at the Orange Walk Police Station said that they were aware of a report made by the complainant but declined further comment as the officer in charge was not in office. News 5 understands, however, that Espinosa’s encounter was with a team from the special police patrol unit. While an investigation into the incident is ongoing, information reaching News 5 indicates that the officers are saying that Espinosa got his jaw broken in the earlier altercation with his friends and is now just looking to pin the incident on the police.
