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And, in an unrelated story, another coast guardsman is in police lockdown tonight, awaiting an appearance in the High Court tomorrow.
24 year old Shakeem Rashad Richards is the Guardsman caught on camera slapping up two police officers. It happened on Saturday night and he was arraigned this afternoon in the Belize City Magistrate's Court on two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of threatening words.
But at his arraignment, a major amendment was made by Prosecution that changed charges and rephrased the words allegedly uttered by the accused to the police. The Prosecutor asked the court permission to let the charge of using threatening words be changed from the words allegedly uttered by Richards changed from "Ah wah kill yuh" to: "Ah wah shoot yuh".
Richards pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
And while he was granted $2,000 bail, but before he could post it - there was a delay. The complication for him is that he is already on bail for another offense, a robbery which he is accused of.
It seems police will try to revoke his High Court bail for that alleged robbery. So, he is being kept overnight at the Queen Street Police Station until tomorrow when he is expected to be taken before a Judge of the High court.
His mother spoke outside the courthouse and said her son is being victimized by a story only half told - from a scene only half shown:
Agnes Thompson, Guardsman's Mother
"Well yes there is a video but in the short time I get to talk to my son he said it's not just what day the media is showing. He said he paid to get into the establishment and he was refused and he wanted to know what's the reason why he couldn't have entered the establishment. And two, one of the police just bombarded him and drag him in his shirt and was being disrespectful not knowing what type of person they were dealing with. They didn't even realize that it was an officer or a colleague until the whole thing got out of proportion."
"My son might be wrong for manhandling the police but he was manhandled as well. He was hit, the video didn't show that he got hit, but the person who produced the video saw him got hit and he retaliated. And after this all accord the person said my son had a brief talk with the police and they apologized."
"So I don't know what is the problem if it is too much pressure that Chester is under to make him force the police, after a formal apology to insist that they make a report. Then the Admiral who is the boss of the Coast Guard is throwing my son under the bus. And like I'm saying I clearly not justifying anything but there is more to it than that. "
"What do they want him to do? Go to jail for a second time? "
"He has a son you know people might say oh he wasn't thinking about that but regardless he is a growing young man. Children make mistakes even up in their career. Sometimes you can't persecute. Sometimes you need to find out what the problem is with the officers that make them not able to do their job the right way and go about their self being respectful and so."
