Basseterre, St. Kitts – THE second man, who was involved in Wednesday night’s (Jan. 19) high speed chase with the police when one of them was shot, is hospitalised under police guard.
SKNVibes learned that the wanted man is a juvenile and, according to the Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Crime, Ian Queeley, he was taken to the Basseterre Police Station sometime yesterday evening (Jan. 21) by a close relative who is a member of the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF).
This media house learned that the juvenile was shot on one of his feet on the night of the high speed chase and he had applied various medications to treat the wound, but it was rapidly deteriorating. However, on learning what transpired, the soldier took him to the station.
The man who was shot and arrested on Wednesday night during the high speed chase is 21-year-old Xavier Phillip of River Ghaut, Cayon. He received bullet wounds to his left leg and left wrist and is also warded at the JNF Hospital under police guard.
According to Police Press and Public Relations Officer Inspector Vaughan Henderson, at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday officers at the Cayon Police Station were in the Canada Industrial Site area conducting investigations into reports of a stolen scooter.
“While in the area above the Solid Waste Management Corporation landfill, in the vicinity of Insta Tyre World, police saw a motor scooter travelling with two persons, a rider and a pillion rider, approaching them.
“When the scooter passed, the police recognised that the scooter had no license plate or registration number affixed to the back and they immediately set chase. The occupants of the scooter then fired gunshots upon the police and the police returned fire in hot pursuit. The motorised chase ended at the main road junction leading to the Quarry when the occupants of the motor scooter fell off when they attempted to make a left turn onto the main paved road leading to the Quarry,” Henderson said in a press release.
The Inspector also said that after they fell, the two men ran up the paved road leading to the Quarry and then into the nearby bushes. However, close on their heels were the police and they managed to capture the injured Phillip.
He noted that after apprehending Phillip, the officers immediately called for backup and members of the various task forces as well as members of the SKNDF responded. Together they searched within the bushes and adjoining terrain for the juvenile but he managed to elude the lawmen.
“The crime scene was processed by officer from the Crime Scene Department and one 9 mm pistol and a motor scooter were retrieved from the scene and taken into police custody for further analysis,” Henderson added.
He also informed that on the following morning at approximately 9:30 officers from the Criminal Investigation Department visited Phillip at the hospital and arrested him on “suspicion for shooting at the police with intent to do them serious harm”.
