Chef Says Charge after He Was Knocked Down Adds Insult to Injury

A chef who claims that he was the victim of a traffic accident on Monday, near the Pound Yard Bridge, says he is being victimized because he was charged for how he reacted after being knocked down. The incident was partially recorded and thereafter went viral on social media. Thirty-five-year-old Raymond Dyer was summoned to appear in court today to answer to the charge of indecent words to a woman police officer. Dyer expressed his frustration in an interview this morning outside the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. According to Dyer, he believes that he was charged based on the video, which showed only part of what actually occurred.  On Monday, Dyer and a female companion were walking towards the Pound Yard Bridge when a dollar van traveling in the opposite direction swerved into them. Dyer said that he pushed his friend out of harm’s way and took the brunt of the impact when the van knocked him to the ground. When he realized that he had been hit, Dyer said that was when he reacted, attacking the Haitian taxi driver. The chef admits that he was wrong to hit the taxi driver, but that his reaction was upon realizing that he had just been subjected to a near death experience, for which he was taken to the hospital for treatment. It was when he went to make an official police report about the accident that a female corporal told him that he needed to make his way down to the King Street Police Station to face a charge of indecent words to a police officer. But Dyer told us today that he was not talking to the officer when he uttered obscenities right after the incident. But he was informed at the court that he was free to leave – that is until the court paper with the charge is made out.

Raymond Dyer

Raymond Dyer, Knocked down then Charged

“I was cursing and I was behaving what the police they call disorderly, but I got hit by a vehicle, you know. My kids, my life flashed before my face. My eyes, you know, I believe I was within my means to react how I react. I wasn’t in the middle of the street that, you know, this, this man literally swerved and accelerate this man in my direction and hit me. Okay. And I feel cheated. I feel very, very cheated. Yes, I know my rights. Went wrong when I attacked the man, but I lose it. The police system or the justice system cheated me by charging me for this in decent words. Now today I show up at the court and there’s no court book. There ain’t no charge at the court for me. You know, they’re wasting my time.”