He had a gun pulled on him but, tonight Elliston Craig is the one charged for the crime, instead of the gun wielding Chinese grocer. It happened around mid-day yesterday when had a disagreement with his neighborhood Chinese shopkeeper on Faber's Road over the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola. Craig says it quickly escalated when the Chinese man pulled out his 9-millimeter gun and pointed it in his face. Craig called the police but when they responded was the one arrested. He explains.
Elliston Craig, Assaulted by Chinese Grocer
"I am there talking to him and he is pushing the thing and called me a thief. So I stepped up and told him it is only $1.50 for a coke and the man had brought his bottle. All of a sudden when I looked, I saw him reach in the back of his shirt. I don't what was his intention so what I did was burst the bottle on the corner of the wall and that gave me a little time to run away. So I ran away and went over to the neighbor and called the police. The police came and when we looked we saw him with the gun out there on Baracat Street with the gun riding up and down looking for me. The police arrived, jumped out, and put their guns on him and told him to drop the gun and he didn't. He put the gun back into his shirt and police took it out and they unclipped the gun and took us the station.
When we got there they treated me like I was the criminal. I told them I wanted to press charges on this man and they didn't tell me nothing, they just pushed me in the pisshouse. They didn't give me any attention, they just laughed in my face like I am some kind of criminal. I told them I am not a criminal, I am a Belizean citizen and a resident of the states. I feared for my life so I burst the bottle, ran, and called you guys so why am I here penalized like this. Why are you penalizing me and allowing this man to go back to his business while mine is closed down?
This shows me that in Belize that I am a third class citizen and foreigners and anybody can come ahead and get satisfaction but as a black man I can't."
Craig was charged with wounding. He was released on $500 bail and is due back in court on September 29th. The Chinese grocer is back running his store. Under Belize's law pulling a gun, even if it licensed, on someone without a demonstrable threat qualifies as aggravated assault.
It's worth noting because in early February the proprietor of the same store, at the corner of Faber's and Kraal Road, Migg Li Zhing shot at customer Robert Buckley who was trying to a buy a stout. Zhing's bullet never caught Buckley but they did graze the leg of a 15 year old while Zhing was charged for use of deadly means of harm, aggravated assault, wounding and discharging a firearm in public. We could not confirm if Zhing is still proprietor or if he is the one who shot at Craig in this case.
