Cops face assaults in Cayo, Corozal
A San Ignacio police officer continues to recover after he was attacked by several armed men. Police Constable Brent Longsworth, who was off duty at the time, was stabbed as he was waiting to buy food outside of the Blue Angels Club around three thirty on Sunday morning. Longsworth reported that as he was waiting to be served, four persons, who he recognized as individuals he had arrested about a week ago, approached him. One of the assailants threw an empty pint bottle towards him. It is at that time Longsworth says that the three other men jumped him and one of them pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the back. Today, as Longsworth remains in the Western Regional Hospital in a stable condition, his fellow officers have been able to find and detain three of the suspects. They have been identified as brothers: twenty-one year old Robin Spain, twenty-eight year old Yomel Spain and sixteen year old Dillon Spain.
According to police the four suspects had been arrested for burglary following two incidents on the ninth and tenth of September. The men were later released after the victims in both cases chose not to proceed with any court action.
Meanwhile in the North, a Customs and Police Anti Contraband Unit came under attack after the officers confiscated a canoe filled with smuggled goods. The incident occurred around six thirty on Friday evening in Santa Cruz Village in the Orange Walk District. Police report that as they and customs officers were loading the goods into a Customs vehicle, a group of men attacked them and began hitting the officers with paddles and sticks. Customs Officer Randy Joseph was struck hard and fell to the ground, at which time he pulled out his service revolver and pulled the trigger. One of the two bullets that were fired caught one of the alleged assailants: twenty-one year old Javier Alfonzo Julian, a resident of Santa Cruz. The wounded man was taken to the Northern Regional Hospital where he remains under guard recovering from a gunshot to the right ankle. As a result of the shooting, Police Commissioner Gerald Westby has ordered a full investigation into the case.
