And in other news, a police officer is in hot water tonight after he put a beatdown on a civilian yesterday in front of Shisha Lounge on Princess Margaret Drive in Belize City. You may have seen the video circulating on social media but before you condemn the officer, apparently, the civilian had just as much fault. According to the commissioner of police, the officer, PC Philip Garbutt was breaking up a fight when the civilian, Edmund Perdomo, assaulted him. The officer was charged and the police are looking to bring charges against Perdomo as well. The ComPol told us more today via Zoom.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The matter had started out at Shisha Restaurant where there was a scuffle or a fight between two young men. I am told that it was over a female and that fight led to the police getting involved and the police in question PC Garbutt had detained the young man and placed him in the back of a vehicle and when the police turned to go in the vehicle, I am told that the young man picked up a pint bottle and hit the police in the head with the pint bottle causing the bottle to break and the police officer to receive a wound in the head. Based on that the police officer and the other persons who were around got involved in detaining the young man or subduing him and in that process, you could have seen where the young man was on the ground and he was being kicked by a civilian and the police officer PC Garbutt apparently hitting him in the head with a firearm."
"Now yes while I do understand and emphatized with the police because of what was done to him, where the police officer went wrong was when he continued to use excessive force, particularly hitting of the young man with the gun while the young man was on the ground appeared to have been in a helpless position. So, he would have already been detained or subdued and other police officers were around. So, there were sufficient man power there for them to have taken the young man into custody without the use of the excessive force and so it was on that premise that I directed that PC Garbutt be charged for wounding upon the young man Perdomo, but equally, Perdomo will also be charged for wounding the police, because the fact remains it was him who started this matter and it was him who assaulted the police."
"Yes, the police responded with that I would perceive as excessive force, hence the reason the police was charged. So we just have it at that and then we will see where it goes from there before the courts."
Reporter
"What kind of internal charged will the police officer be facing?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"It might just be a use of unwarranted force against a person who is in custody and them that goes before the tribunal and we see how it goes from there."
Reporter
"Is there is a possibility him being dismissed over this incident?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I don't like to pre-empt tribunals result. but I won't go that far. The truth is the police officer responded based on what had happened. I think that any reasonable person - if a person hit you in the head with a pint bottle, the fact that it happened so sudden, it wouldn't give you time to think in terms of how you would respond and it has to be taken into consideration. Its not like the police just went out there and picked on someone and brutalized the person. The police officer was doing his job and if you listen to the people in the background, they were also saying that the man had burst the police officer's head. Now the rest of comments that follows, I don't agree with it, but at the end of the day we have to take every factor into consideration in terms of how we deal with the police officer."
According to our court reporter, PC Garbutt did not appear in court today.
