Sanitation worker turns on colleague in vicious chopping

A sanitation worker is another victim of violence. This morning forty-year-old Michael Tesecum was inside a parked bus when another worker chopped him twice to the head with a machete. After the first blow to the head, Tesecum fell unconscious but another chop wound was inflicted on him by fifty-three-year-old Dennis Bodden. Other workers in the City Council bus witnessed the bloody incident but were too stunned to move. The bus was parked at the corner of Tigris Street and Euphrates Avenue when the bloody chopping occurred. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

A chopping incident on Cairo Street has left a Belize City man in critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.  Michael Tesecum, an employee of the Belize City Council, was in the back of this bus, along with a co-worker who has since been identified as Dennis Bodden.  It appears that the two sanitation workers got into a verbal altercation before a machete was drawn.  The broad blade of the cutlass came down sharply on Tesecum’s head.  Windell Russell, a colleague of theirs, witnessed the incident.

Windell Russell, Eyewitness

Windell Russell

“Dehn pick we up from Euphrates, me and the same young man weh di man chop.  Me and he di sihdown side by side.  The young bwai jump ova di seat and ih look like he mi di drink ah wata and ih look like bally knock di drink outta fu he hand, but ih look like two a dehn mi got wahn long time thing then eena di bus ya.  And ih look like when bally tell ahn just now weh he wahn do bout it, di same one weh he chop, then he reply back and grab ih machete and chop ahn eena ih head from back ya to way up ya.  Then when di man done drop again then di man chop di man again, right.”

The vicious chopping happened in the blink of an eye, the bus instantly becoming the scene of a ferocious and violent crime.

Windell Russell

“We da work brothas, we da work brothas.  We work together, yo undastand, but I noh know weh gaan on between di two ah dehn.  Like weh I explain to yo, we put the machine dehn een deh and di man jump ova di chair and he mi di drink wata, ih knock di wata outta di man mouth and dat when he get vex and haul ih machete and chop di man.  Front ah di whole bus crew and front ah di two supervisor them.”

Reporter

“It looks like all the employees are distressed after what they saw.”

Windell Russell

“Dehn shock offa it same way too cause dehn neva believe that mi wahn happen, yo undastand.  All ah we work together.  We dah like sistas and brothas.  I noh know weh gaan on mein.”

Reporter

“So these two guys, how long have they been working with the city council?”

Windell Russell

“Three years we di work with Belize City Council, three years and first time this get outta hand like that.  I noh know weh gaan on, like weh ah explain, I noh know weh gaan on.”

According to Russell, the blow was initially meant for him but he was swift in dodging the sudden strike.  He explains the blood spatter on his clothing.

Windell Russell

“Da my good friend di man chop, because da me di man mi wahn chop first but I slip it and ih ketch he eena ih head, eena di back ah ih head, cause he chop like he crazy and ih done sih lotta people eena di bus, yo undastand.  Dat no mek no kinda sense bredda.  Di police mobile ker ahn da hospital because di man get wahn big chop from back ya, then when di man drop again, di man chop di man again, yo undastand.  Di man mi done pass away then, done di lose lotta blood so ih get weak and that’s why di man mi deh pan di ground, yo check.  And that’s how come di mobile come and ker di man to hospital.”

Dennis Bodden was arrested at the scene of the incident and taken into police custody.  There’s no word as yet whether he has been charged for the attempted murder of Tesecum.

Dennis Bodden

Isani Cayetano reporting for News Five.

Tesecum is hospitalized in a critical condition while Bodden is under detention.