61 year old Woodrow Gabourel says Belize is the home of his ancestors and he visits as often as he can. This time he’s here with his wife and grand-child but today he wasn’t at the beach, he was at court facing multiple criminal charges. He was charged for resisting arrest, loitering and harm and assaulting a police officer. He pleaded not guilty and trial is set for March 29th. So how does a 61 year old tourist get charged for those offences? He says it all started when he was helping his captain tie up a boat near the Yabra Bridge. And as it turns out, he says he was the one harmed by police and more than that, they robbed him.
Woodrow Gabourel, Charged
“I come as often as I can but this is one of the worst times, this is the most disappointing time so far because I got beat up, got robbed by the police, and got charged by the police and I didn’t do anything to harm anyone. We were mooring the boat when the police officer came and told us that we would be arrested for loitering. We tried to explain to the officers that weren’t loitering, that we were just securing the craft and as soon as we got the craft secured we would have left. The officer insisted that we leave now.”
Boat Captain,
“We tried to explain to the guys that he is a tourist, I am the captain and we were securing the boat. They told me I would be arrested if I didn’t move immediately and they bum rushed him, they just slammed him into the vehicle and continued to arrest him and took him away. I was surprised because after mentioning that he was a tourist I thought they would react differently.”
Woodrow Gabourel,
“It turned out that they took me away alone but in doing so, while I was standing near the vehicle with the door opened, the police officer actually slammed the door on my shoulder. The next officer was next to me and he kept me there. The officer that did the slamming searched my pocket and took my items and took me to the jail and gave me some charges. Upon release, looking for the items that I was supposed to recover, it turned out that my cash, $140 Belize and my utility knife was not returned to me and nobody knows or can tell me what happened.”
Captain,
“In hindsight I can say they wanted to get money from us, one way or the other because the way how they came, no explanation from us, they separated me from him and took him.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So you weren’t a suspect for this same loitering although you were with him?”
Captain,
“I was a suspect but they separated me from him and drove me away. I was not charged. The next vehicle that came, the back up vehicle, asked them to release him and they said no. So they insisted on taking him. When I checked it the next morning, I said we were robbed. We were actually robbed on the bridge and by who, the police because that is what they did. It happened so fast.”
Woodrow Gabourel,
“It doesn’t take them more than about 60 seconds, by the time they pulled up on the bridge and told us to leave and we were trying to explain to them what we were doing, we were not loitering but we were actually working to secure our craft and they didn’t listen to that, they just wanted to do what they wanted to do and that’s what they did – they hurt me and they rob me and I am just waiting to go to trial now and hopefully my defense is going to be good enough to make things turn around here.”
Jules Vasquez,
“When were you scheduled to return to the United States?”
Woodrow Gabourel,
“I am scheduled to return in approximately a week and a half.”
Jules Vasquez,
“You may end up being a fugitive or something.”
Woodrow Gabourel,
“I can’t plead against the way my life been. If something is wrong it is wrong and it needs fixing and I am not going to say guilty just because I want to leave on time. I am sorry, if I have to live here and stay here so I could get this resolved then I might just have to do that. I am not going to be a fugitive when I am the victim. I need some help here. I need justice, that is what I am asking for.”
We’ll follow up when he re-appears in court on March 29th.
