When a live grenade was thrown into a crowd on Princess Margaret Drive on carnival day – it changed everything, as a new era of public terror and unease caused a collective shudder across the city. And while the threat of deadly explosives remained live, what bothered most city residents we spoke to was, what kind of monster, what kind of enemy to the public good would do such a thing? Well tonight we know – or at least we know what the police think. He is no monster, or at least he doesn’t look like one.
He is 19 year old Richard Flores; a teenager from the Buttonwood Bay area who has no violent criminal history and is known to staffers here at Channel 7 as a mild mannered youth, often seen hanging out at the Buttonwood Bay basketball court smoking weed. But police say he is their grenade man, an urban terrorist in the flesh. We’ll tell you what hard evidence the police have to justify their arrest shortly but our coverage begins at the Magistrate’s Court where he was arraigned. Keith Swift was there from morning and he has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This is the man who police say lobbed an attack grenade into a crowd on carnival day. He is actually a teenager, Richard Flores who turned 19 two months ago. Today he was charged with 13 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing unlicensed ammunition, in this case a grenade. This morning as he left the courthouse – he told me he’s innocent.
Keith Swift,
Did you throw the grenade?
Richard Flores,
“No.”
Flores’ attorney Dickie Bradley says police beat a confession out of his client.
Richard Dickie Bradley, Attorney for Richard Flores
“He was picked up on Saturday and yesterday Monday he was taken to Belmopan where he claims that a plastic bag was put over his head and he was
severely beaten with clubs and batons for the sole purpose of having him sign some statement or other that yes he is the person that either had the grenade or he is associated with the grenade. His family and himself swears that the police have picked up the wrong person.
The charges are that somehow in relation to the matter that he carried, the charge is not that he threw any hand grenade, that he carried a hand grenade. They have charged him with attempting to kill thirteen persons. Each of the names are on the charge sheets. He vehemently denies that he had any thing to do with the matter and that he has witnesses as to where he was when the incident would have long happened and as to where he was subsequent to leaving the presence of those witnesses.
He say that he is not the person, that he is innocent, and if you add one and one, you either get eleven or you two. If they have to take him to Belmopan and torture him to sign a statement, that says to you they know they have some flaky information which might not stand up in court.”
And that’s why Bradley believes that the police arrested Richard Flores for nothing more than the sake of making an arrest.
Richard Dickie Bradley,
“In Belize we do know that the police carry out what is referred to by us in our profession as a statistical arrest. This is a serious matter, they need to have some kind of closure, we’ve caught somebody, so they are handing up a scapegoat as far as well may be the situation.”
Richard Flores was also charged with two counts of drug possession for marijuana found in his Buttonwood Bay home on Saturday morning. Bail was denied to him. His mother, sister, and younger brother who were home at the time were also charged for drug possession. They left the courthouse on bail.
As we mentioned police found 0.5 grams of cannabis and 1.9 grams of cannabis seeds in a room when they searched Richard Flores’ Buttonwood Bay home on Saturday. He was charged along with his mother Gaylia Flash, his sister Longene Flores, and his 17 year old brother for drug possession. They were offered and met bail of $750. But Richard Flores is still in a jail cell tonight, on remand and facing a long list of offences.
