Woman claims $190,000 loss of items in unlawful eviction

Last night we reported on a controversy over the ownership of a building at the Farmer’s Market and tonight the tempest has increased to a war of words. This morning Laura Leonardo’s lawyer, Dolores Balderamos Garcia, contacted News Five disputing the chain of events given by the Ramclams. According to Balderamos Garcia, the Ramclams did not receive an eviction warrant because the case was adjourned and has not been called back. It is a sticking point, according to Balderamos-Garcia and Leonardo, that while the Ramclams were within their right to purchase the building; their actions in forcibly evicting the woman and the ensuing loss of property Leonardo suffered are criminal offences.

Laura Leonardo, Claims Unlawful Eviction from Home
“Di ninth of January, five o’clock di evening she come to my place wid one police and bring wah paper to me like dat and seh, this dah di order fi mek you come out now. And I seh let me see it and she seh no, you can’t read this, but dah fi mek you come out and if you noh come out by tomorrow, di Saturday, I wah bruk open di place wid you in there or not. And then I call Mrs. Dolores right away and she tell me dehn noh send no court order to she, none to me, how dehn could have one? I went church di Saturday morning and when I come out a dread fellow was standing at di door. He said good morning, I said good morning and I left. When I come back twelve o’clock di door was already bust open and nothing was inside. And di dread man, di same dread was right inside. Right away I pick up di phone and I called Mrs. Dolores and she called police. At di same time di lady come wid ih husband and di truck weh mi di back out di things dem. When I ask weh my things, she seh they gone park it and put it dah some warehouse.”

Kendra Griffith
“Have you been able to recover any of those items?”

Laura Leonardo
“Nothing, nothing at all. When we went to di police fi mek we mi gone and get di things dem like one week dah back and we went to di place we didn’t find nothing at all.”

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Attorney for Laura Leonardo
“Nobody can forcibly remove somebody from a premises without a court order. I can tell you also that we went to court on the nineteenth of December, all the Magistrates were in a seminar ad the mater was adjourned over the new year. Of course, Ms. Laura has given you much of the story but what concerns me very greatly—and we are going to pursue this full force—what concerns me is the involvement of the police. I am extremely disturbed and I have indicated as such to the commissioner of police, to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ombudsman. I am extremely concerned that this lady in her illegal actions was aided and abetted by certain members of the police force who must have known that you cannot take somebody and fling them on the street without a court order and also a bailiff of the Magistrate’s Court being present and I can tell you that I have communicated personally with the Chief Magistrate who has confirmed there was no order of the court to remove my client.”

Laura Leonardo
“I want mek him pay for everything weh lost. Di police already have all di statements, all di items dehn weh lost, all di price of di things dem and everything, so the CIB wah deal wid dat.”

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
“We are not only talking for compensation of the massive amount of loss that my client and her daughter and son-in-law have suffered, but also the prosecution for the criminal actions that were perpetrated.”

Leonardo produced a list of items she says was lost. They include furniture, computers and laptops from her daughter’s business and several glass showcases, to the tune of a hundred and ninety thousand dollars. According to Balderamos, she has written to the Commissioner of Police twice about the Ramclams’ harassment of her client and has also met with the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ombudsman in an effort to put an end of the matter. She says there is also an internal investigation into the conduct of the officers who assisted the Ramclams in harassing and evicting Leonardo.