BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A police officer of the Sandy Point Police Station and the owners of the G-Spot Nightclub found themselves in a fracas at the entertainment spot in the wee hours of Monday morning (Apr. 9).
Speaking with the G-Spot Nightclub owners, Shane 'Rush' Warner and Amos 'Young Flamez' Francis, who is also the promoter of the club, they recounted the morning's events that lead to the untimely end to the party.
Francis explained that the event, which was originally scheduled to run from 10:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m., did not start to 'swing' until sometime around 3:00 a.m. due to the late end of the swimsuit pageant.
"We had the ‘Bil Ah Vybz’ Pre-J'Ouvert Party which was supposed to be held after the LIME Miss Black San' Swimsuit Pageant and run right down until J'Ouvert was ready to start. It was scheduled so that persons would have a place to 'lime' before J'Ouvert.
"We got a permit to have the party from 10:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m., but the pageant did not finish until sometime after 2:00 a.m. so the persons we held the party to accommodate did not get there until 3:00 a.m. which means our event had a late start."
Francis went on to explain that the time for which the permit expired came but neither he nor Warner realised due to the fact that "everyone was having so much fun” and the band which was scheduled to start at 5:00 a.m. was late.
He said that even though the permit expired, they allowed the music to continue playing until the J'Ouvert started.
He continued: "While we were there partying and waiting for J'Ouvert to start, out of the blue the music stopped. I was in the bar at the time and I went to inquire about this and I saw Officer Matthew McGuire standing in the club.
"I approached him and asked him why he stopped the music without coming to the owners first to say something. He told me that the permit had expired, and when I tried to reason with him and explain to him that the party started late due to circumstances and that J'Ouvert had not started as yet and so on, he grabbed me in my throat."
Warner elucidated that while he was in another bar at the back of the club, he heard the clubbers shouting "let go de man", and upon reaching out on the dance floor at the front of the club, saw the commotion.
"I went and identified myself as the owner of the club and asked why he had the promoter collard in his throat, telling him that there are proper ways to do things.”
The officer said he did not want to hear anything and he tried to thrust the promoter outside of the club's door but Amos was putting up resistance - he [Amos] was not hitting him or anything. He was there for a while saying 'let me go, let go me throat', and that is when I told persons to take out their phones and start recording," he explained.
Warner said that it was only when Officer McGuire saw that persons were recording him, that he let go of Francis, noting that the officer was very wrong for the way he approached the situation.
Warner said that Officer McGuire then said that he wanted to talk outside and started approaching him to which he responded "I will talk to you but do not touch me".
"We were walking going outside and as soon as we reached outside in the street, he [Officer McGuire] grabbed me by my shirt and that is when I took off my shirt and left it in his hand and asked him why he grabbed me up so. He just left us alone and went back down the station."
The G-Spot owner and promoter both confided that that was not the first time they had a confrontation with Officer McGuire.
Warner explained that at their first year anniversary party dubbed "Money Green" which was held on February 24, the officer, at around 8:00 p.m. came to the club asking for plastic utensils and gave them a warning.
"He said he just came to ask if we have plastic cups and to make sure we don't go over time which was 4:00 a.m. and that he came to let us know that he is the one in charge of the Sandy Point area and that he can revoke our permit if he wanted to."
Warner also said that the same police officer harassed them at another function they had hosted in January of this year.
Information reaching this publication stated that at 5:45 a.m. on Monday (Apr. 9), Corporal McGuire had arrested Warner for obstructing him while he was executing his duties and while he was being taken into police custody at the Sandy Point Police Station he escaped by taking off his T-Shirt and running away, and is currently wanted for "escaping lawful custody".
Warner however maintained that all they did was try to reason with Officer McGuire, noting that he is the one who is always harassing them, often stating that he does care what they have to go through or how much money they have to spend to host an event, he could revoke their permits if he wanted to.
"He looking for a reason to lock me up and he is trying to stop me from getting permits so I could run my business; he is trying to get the place closed down," Warner said.
