Police say they arrived too late – witness says no

Early this morning, News Five got a press release from Police Press Relations Officer Christy Castillo regarding allegations that police acted inappropriately while at the scene where Betty Rudon had been beaten. Castillo says the internal investigation, includes statements from the eyewitness to the attack, Ilma McCann, as well as the two officers involved. Statements were also taken from a neighbour, Teresita Evans who arrived afterwards, and Noreen Jackson who was allegedly carried outside and left there by her son during the attack. The police say investigations have shown that when the officers got to the scene, the victim had already been taken to the hospital and after checking in at the station, they headed to the hospital to pursue the matter there. However, when News Five visited Ilma McCann again today, she adamantly stood by her version of events. McCann insists that she let the two officers INTO her home and even though they saw the bloody and bruised body of Betty Rudon lying in the living room, they simply asked her a few questions and left the house. She says they never came back. McCann says this is the same story she told the police when they came to get her statement. As for the police claiming that they went to the hospital to get more information shortly after receiving the call, a nurse on duty that night, who wishes not to be identified, told News Five a different story this afternoon. She says Betty Rudon was brought into the emergency room just before seven but it was not until AFTER 8:00 that night that the officers finally showed up. The nurse says both she AND a woman police officer at the hospital on personal business, called the Criminal Investigations Branch repeatedly during the hour but that there was no immediate response. The nurse says part of the reason they kept calling was because the man now charged with attacking Betty Rudon, Levi Jackson, came to the ward that night, still looking, in her words, “very vexed and angry” and they were concerned about patient safety. The nurse adds that Noreen Jackson, Levi Jackson’s mother, tried to get her son to leave but he kept coming back. According the police’s own press release, Jackson wasn’t picked up by police until the afternoon of the following day. He has been charged with Dangerous Harm and Harm. He was denied bail earlier this week and remanded to the Hattieville Correctional Facility. Betty Rudon was in Ilma McCann’s home on Eve Street in Belize City Monday evening administering medication when Levi Jackson is alleged to have burst into the house. He reportedly threw the 83 year old Mrs. McCann to the floor and then savagely beat Rudon with various objects including a glass hurricane lamp. She suffered severe trauma to her skull and face and possible injury to her brain. It is not known what sparked the attack. Jackson’s mother had been living with McCann for 3 years.