A Police chase ends in injury to a suspect.
On Sunday morning residents of Cemetery Road near the Pound Yard awoke to a commotion, when a car had collided with a bicyclist. But according to the victim, what at first appeared to be a routine accident, was no accident at all.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Twenty year old Aaron Chavez could barely move out of his own way when we stopped by his house this morning. According to the young man, he was headed towards the Constitution Park on Sunday morning to meet a relative when he was run over by a police vehicle for no apparent reason. Needless to say, the story sounded almost too incredible to be true.
Aaron Chavez – Injured By Police Vehicle
“I was heading to the Constitution Park, sir. I was also heading to the Constitution Park to see my cousin. I saw my cousin in the Constitution Park and I was heading there, and meanwhile I was heading there, that was when I heard this noise … I just heard this loud noise behind me, like tire spinning and I look behind me and I saw this blue vehicle coming towards me with one hell of a speed. The vehicle was coming like almost forty five miles per hour. Almost forty five miles per hour this vehicle was coming and I just, they teach me how to cover my face and protect myself, because if I stayed by the bar, they would hit me and kill me.”
And a guard rail, bent out of shape lent some credence to at least the ending of Chavez’s story. But the police have put a different spin on the tale. According to officer in Charge of the Patrol Branch, Superintendent Yolanda Murray, the running over of Chavez was an unfortunate accident.
Supt. Yolanda Murray – Officer In Charge Patrol Branch
IN: 44:38 – His bicycle was not hit ….
OUT: 45:11 – ………… minor injuries
Aaron Chavez
“If i didn’t jump, they would broke up my feet. That’s for sure, and they would kill me, they would definitely kill me.”
While Chavez is playing the role of victim, Murray is convinced its not all he’s making it out to be. According to police the whole incident could have been prevented if Chavez had stopped when he was asked to so.
Supt. Yolanda Murray
IN: 41:47 – Around 8:15 a.m. ……..
OUT: 42:36 – ….. continued behind him
Murray says when the cops caught up with the bloodied Chavez and executed a search of his person, they found him to be carrying a little over two grams of marijuana. Which would explain why he was trying to out-sprint the police trooper.
Chavez will appear in Belize City Magistrates Court on Tuesday to answer to the charges.
Aaron Chavez
“No I wasn’t. I wasn’t running from any police. I never run from the police. If the police said stop, I stop. And they search me and they didn’t found anything. So I wasn’t running from the police at all.”
After his release from Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital later on Sunday, Chavez was promptly arrested and charged for drug possession. And before he could groan much louder, the cops were getting ready to slap two other charges on him: riding a bicycle contrary to the free flow of traffic and for refusing to stop when directed to do so by a police officer in uniform. Patrick Jones, for News Five.
