Roger Anthony Before the Court Following an Encounter with Officers

Roger Anthony

Well-known street figure Roger Anthony is back in the news tonight, following a scuffle with security personnel at the Phillip Goldson International Airport on Tuesday.  Anthony accompanied his wife to Panama over the weekend, but was denied entry and could not disembark the aircraft upon arriving at his destination.  So, he was shipped back to Belize via El Salvador and his wife proceeded without him.  She returned on Tuesday and was in the process of being searched when Anthony muscled his way into the arrival lounge. How airport security allowed for that breach to occur is anyone’s guess, but officers from the nearby Ladyville Police Station had to be called in.  Anthony, who was reportedly belligerent, proceeded to assault the responding officers, verbally threatening their lives, before he could be subdued.  He now faces a battery of charges related to the incident. Assistant Commissioner of Police Broaster explains.

Edward Broaster

ACP Edward Broaster, Regional Commander, Rural Eastern Division

“There was an incident at the Phillip Goldson International Airport yesterday where one Roger Anthony, who was refused leave to land in Panama over the weekend, his wife arrived at the P.G.I.A. and was subjected to a search and he entered the arrival lounge acting boisterous and disorderly and he was escorted outside where he had to be subdued by three of our officers.  And he is now facing charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assaulting police officers and threat of death to two of our officers.”

Anthony picked up three criminal charges of disorderly conduct, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He was arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate Court before Senior Magistrate Sharon Fraser today and pleaded not guilty to all charges. But in the process, the court learnt that there was pending case before the court last Friday to which he had failed to show up, which begged the question if he was trying to flee the country. Anthony told the court that he is suffering from back pain complications and he was going to Panama to seek medical attention. As to why he was not allowed entry into Panama, Anthony claimed the GSU got word to Panamanian authorities who told him that the country does not accept persons with a criminal past. Anthony was granted bail in the sum of one thousand dollars and cannot leave the country without the court’s permission. He is due back in on May second, 2016.