Roy “Bullet” Craig Denies Assault of Minor, 16
Roy "Bullet" Craig
Taxi driver Roy “Bullet” Craig is out on bail for the sexual assault of a sixteen-year-old minor in whose company he was surprised with when he was busted by the police on Thursday night at a hotel that is located not too far from where he resides. The police on Monday provided a full account on how the outspoken and popular taxi man was found nude with the boy, who is said to have intellectual disabilities. Today, Bullet made his media rounds to offer his version. Though it doesn’t necessarily add up, Bullet claims he was set up. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
On Thursday night, shortly after eight o’clock, Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig checked into Honey Hotel in the Buttonwood Bay neighborhood. The receptionist at the front desk confirms that the seventy-six-year-old paid forty dollars for a two-hour stay, before proceeding to room number thirty. The small, sparsely-appointed space includes a threadbare mattress on a concrete frame. A wooden space saver with an outdated color television faces the bed, while a metal fan stands motionless nearby. It was in here that the popular cab driver and self-styled activist was busted in the company of a male minor. After being arraigned in court on a charge of sexual assault on Monday afternoon, the elderly taxi man is offering his side of the story. Craig begins by retelling the encounter with the teenager.
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig, Charged w/ Sexual Assault
“I went to Yabra to play, to give the kids a shot, I usually do it. I do it all year, whatever, but occasionally. I don’t do it all the time, but sometime after I got off of work I go down there and the kids are hollering my name, “Bullet! Bullet! Come give me some shots. Bullet! Bullet, come give me some shots.”
Isani Cayetano
“What do you mean by shots?”
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig
“Well the shot is, they have a basketball court and on one of the rims we have shots, I bet them that they cannot make the shot.”
According to Craig, a wager is placed on the shots being made. Depending on the distance and the degree of difficulty, he would often up the ante by doubling or sometimes tripling the bet.
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig
“If I put two dollars and they make the first shot, I would put four. And if they make that [second] shot I would offer them a third shot.”
That day, a sixteen-year-old was out on the basketball court participating in the competition. He won the bet and reportedly collected the money from Bullet, but the encounter did not end there.
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig
“When the game is over I walked, I let them, they win the bet then and I don’t wish to go no farther. So I did this for years and my name became popular there at Yabra Field. This day, I went over there and the kid won the shot. I walked and left them with the money and I come to my car. This kid ran behind me and he said, “Mek ah go wid yo.” I said you cannot go with me because I’m going to work, right. He still run in and opened the door and jumped in. Ah leff ahn wid it.”
From there, the septuagenarian and the young adult drove around the city, before returning to Cinderella Plaza where Bullet has remained a fixture for many years. He parked his vehicle in its bay and hung around in the hope of getting a job while at the stand. All this time the teenager was in his company.
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig
“I didn’t make no jobs because I went to Cinderella Plaza and then after that I went, going home, going to this hotel room where I generally go sometimes. And I went there and when I got up there I paid my way in. The kid wanted to come with me upstairs, I locked him out because I noh trust him in the car. He act kind of psychopathic, so I don’t trust him in the car. I gone in, I paid my hotel fee and while I’m going up he ran behind me and ran upstairs.”
According to Craig, he was headed home, but took a detour to the hotel instead. When we checked with Belize City police for an address, we were informed that he resides near the Phillip Goldson Highway within city limits. In speaking with the receptionist at Honey Hotel, she confirms that Craig does indeed frequent the establishment, but never before had he checked in with a minor. In fact, she says that she never saw the boy go in with Craig and as a result never suspected anything untoward.
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig
“I figure [that] the management called. Why? Because the management detected something irregular occurred. So the management mussi called the police and when I was upstairs using the restroom to take a shower, the kid was across the bed, the other side of the bed well dressed. So in a few minutes when I was up there, say about ten minutes or so, the police come at the door and knocked. Knock, knock. And as the police knocked the door, I opened the door. They caught me in the restroom, in the bathroom area with my pants down, right, because I was going to take a sh*t and then I’m going to shower and whatnot, but I have the kid away from me way on the other side di wait for us to go back out because he can’t go to the car and he’s in the room. So when the police come, I opened the door.”
That’s Bullet’s version of events. We note that never did he attempt to take the young man to the police station, since he claimed that the teenager refused to exit his vehicle in the first instance. We also note that he did not raise any alarm to the receptionist that he was being followed or clung to by that individual. The police’s account of what happened is starkly different from Craig’s story.
Alejandro Cowo
ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City [File: January 8th, 2017]
“Sometime minutes before nine o’clock, police responded to an information at Honey’s Hotel located at Dolphin Drive, Belize City. Upon arrival there at room number thirty, they observed a male person and a minor completely nude. As a result, the minor was escorted to the station and the male person was detained. So far, the investigation, one person was charged on Saturday morning; that person was Mister Roy Craig and he was charged for the offense of sexual assault upon a minor. What we understand is that the male person was walking on Caesar Ridge before reaching by the football field, he met Mister Craig there and placed inside of the vehicle and taken to this Honey’s Hotel, located off Coney Drive.”
Bullet is making his own allegation against the police department.
Roy ‘Bullet’ Craig
“From what I understand, from what I believe, that the police forced the kid to say that they have a purple condom and that the kid’s clothes was off and my clothes was off, because none of that is true. How can the kid recognize a purple condom or how could I wear a condom with myself so weak, you understand?”
Craig has since been arraigned on one count of sexual assault upon a minor and was granted bail in the sum of five thousand dollars. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
