A Tour Operator’s Terrifying Encounter with Senior Policeman

Richard McDonald

Richard Mcdonald, a tour operator of Belize City, is accusing a senior police officer of assaulting him inside the Police Department’s headquarters at Raccoon Street five weeks ago. Because the matter is officially under investigation by the Professional Standards Branch and McDonald has retained counsel for possible legal action, we will not call the officer’s name except to say that he is well-known. But according to McDonald, who was checking on a friend picked up by police for traffic offenses, that did not stop the senior cop from lighting into him for no apparent reason, in full view of witnesses. Here is his story.

Richard McDonald, Claims Police Brutality

“I was blindsided by a punch. After the first punch I was grabbed in the shirt and the person kept punching me in my head. I swung around to see who it was – it was a Senior Superintendent of Police, by the name of Flowers. So he kept uttering words of ‘you came into my station’ – I was a little bit [disoriented] by his punches so I couldn’t understand the words too clearly – but all he was saying was his station and what I came in there to apparently do. After which he took me through a corridor and he pushed me to the ground, and after [I fell] to the ground, he proceeded to kick me to the head. I then covered up my head so he wouldn’t get the full [force] of his kicks. After he saw that, he went directly for my ribs. After kicking me the first time to my ribs, one of the officers in uniform grabbed him by the arm; he flung [away] the officer’s arm and said, ‘Leave me, cause this is my station,’ and he raised his foot and stamped me fully in my back, after which he lifted me off the ground and took me to the holding cell area where they check your property. As he got into that area he lifted a plunger that was on the ground and held it in his right hand. So while the officer was getting my property and counted my money, he asked me to verify the amount of money that was there. So when the officer asked me that, Mr. Flowers said, “Hurry up and answer before I flog you with this stick.”