Bike rider wasn’t rum bar robbery, say cops
(CNS): The RCIPS had confirmed that a 20-year-old man who failed to stop for police during an 11-mile chase in the wake of a robbery is no longer a suspect. The young man is being treated in the US for serious injuries sustained in a collision with police following the pursuit, however he has been eliminated from the investigation of an armed robbery at a downtown tourist rum bar. “After reviewing all information available, detectives have concluded that the man involved in a high-speed chase with officers last Thursday night, 7 April, was not involved in the attempted robbery at the Smugglers’ Rum Bar,” police said Monday.
Police gave no indication why the man did not stop when police used lights and sirens to signal him to do so, as he drove along Harbour Drive close to the scene of the attempted armed robbery. Police chased the bike all the way to Lantern Point at Prospect before he was reportedly hit by a police patrol car.
No arrests have yet been made in connection with the stick-up at the bar, where two armed, masked men escaped empty-handed.
Anyone with information about this attempted robbery is encouraged to call George Town CID at 949-4222. Anonymous tips can be provided via the Miami-based call centre of Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS).
Who was that poor young man really putting in danger but his self? everyone here has so much to say maybe thing should change and everyone can win because after all the officers that pursued him were putting lives in danger too roger had no doors no airbag no seatbelt sometime people forget how much of an advantage they are at in cars the possibility of anyone else getting hurt was slim to none. I had a family member taken from a bike accident and still though his bike was completely legal they said he should not have been on it either the lack of respect for this passion is becoming more fatal everyday
his family and friend are in my prayers
Just to put it into perspective – I had yesterday another guy on a dirt bike with no helmet on coming towards me on Hirst Road because he was overtaking a car in his lane. If I wouldn’t have had my child with me in the car, I don’t think I would have made an effort to break to get out of the way. I know, probably stupid, but there is just so much shit you can take on a daily basis from absolute useless members of society.
Clearly whatever happened in this case has still not sent a message, so I suggest RCIP gets off their backsides and out on the road! Drive around your assigned neighborhoods, you may be surprised what you can actually find taking place!
Glad you stated this as i too came in very close contact with a young man on a what appeared to be a yellow and blue dirt bike, no helmet also, turning off Hirst Road on to Butterfly Circle, funny thing is this was the same night and around the same time that this reported police chase was happening, if i had not been paying attention then that young man would have became a hood ornament on my car.
Let’s look at the facts that matter:
1. He was riding an illegal bike when the police gave chase. Can we agree on that?
2. When provided with the opportunity to stop, he chose to flee recklessly at a high rate of speed. Can we agree on that?
3. In doing so, he also opted to continue the act of fleeing at a high rate of speed while also breaking other traffic laws. Can we agree on that?
4. In the course of his illegal and dangerous efforts, he deemed it an acceptable act to continue his flight over an 11 mile distance without regard for the lives or safety of other residents. Can we agree that?
5. He was not involved robbing anyone. Can we agree on that?
As a parent of a rather spirited and outgoing son, I can agree that as he did nothing to warrant a police chase he should have stopped when approached by the police. Sure he would have lost his illegal bike but the police would have been doing what the parents can never say they have done which is to correct this young man. If they had taught him about respect, community and even half way decent decision making, none of us ever read this mews story. Instead some young idiot whose parents think he is a good boy who was wronged are crying foul when one of the things that happens when you break the law happens to their dear, good, sweet son – he gets hurt.
Parents take your responsibility as parents seriously. Parenting is not about how much material crap you can throw at your child to keep him or her occupied and never wanting for anything. Your children need love, guidance, time and attention not more stuff. As so called Christians, most of you are complete failures because you are or have raised children devoid of moral and ethical fiber and the ability to police themselves. Be happy that this young man is alive because so many of these islands young man do not survive the results of such utter and complete parental failure and their own moral turpitude.
if the call was reported that the suspects were wearing long dark sleeve clothing, and this boy was NOT, wouldn’t they have realized on their “11 mile” chase that they didn’t have the right suspect?
You try it Bono and let us know what you did.
Ya because it takes so long to take your shirt off.
Well played, Sherlock.
You people are worried about the POLICE CAR?!?!!? The police don’t even care about their police cars!!!! Do you know the damage they cause to those things that are all covered up?! This was just another $40,000 write off for the government, but its no big deal.. they’ll run those suckers into anyone and anything.
Out of interest, how can the police say it was an 11 mile chase? Its nowhere near 11 miles from Fort Street to Lantern Point – not even 11 km even if you go around South Sound? Whilst it is not the immediate issue, it does make you wonder how accurate the rest of the reporting is, as clearly the length and duration of the chase is relevant. I have no issue with the pursuit or that the police were right to initiate and continue it, but it is troubling when they cannot get something as basic as the elapsed distance right.
The Pursuit started in town on Fort Street, and then went all the way up into West Bay, and then back down to Latern Point…
That is a pretty long pursuit for Cayman..
Thanks for clarifying.
once again Ignorance not just speaks, it shouts….
The helicopter ran this ‘pursuit’. I think you will find most of the time there was no police car near the bike. All around the world, helicopters are the primary ‘pursuit’ vehilce. You cannot get away from one and no danger to the public, just from the idiot drivers.
Good work, RCIPS! Now that you know how it’s done, how about zeroing in on the other illegal bikers!!!
its not in their protocol to chase anyone firstly and in addition to that he was seriously injured and could have lost his life.
I think its very safe to say that everyone would rather the young men pick up bikes instead of guns or drugs and the young ladies with their heads in helmet instead of having babies. they just need a safe place to do it!!!!!!
Another big, hush-hush payout by CIG on behalf of RCIPS!! And we ‘re supposed to be sorry that Baines resigned??
Still a criminal with no respect for the law and authority or safety of others on the road.
Anonymous says:
12/04/2016 at 7:26 am state, and I quote, “Still a criminal with no respect for the law and authority or safety of others on the road….” May I ask if you drives a motor vehicle? If so, have you ever exceeded the speed limit? If your honest answer is yes, does that make you a ‘criminal?’ Moreover, you are suggesting that a person who fails to stop at the request of a police is a ‘criminal.’ Where is that written in law? Please answer these questions for me.
Umm yes, if you fail to stop at the request of police, you are breaking the law which means you are committing a crime, which in turn makes you a criminal. The fact that this needed to be explained to you is rather ridiculous.
The poor quality of your grammar and use of the English language appears to outmatch your ethics. Well done!
Yes, I will consider anyone a criminal who a) operates a unlicensed vehicle, b) carries no insurance, c) has no respect for the laws (be it traffic laws or other) d) has no respect for authority e) endangers others in the process of doing a, b, c and d! Worse, those people don’t have an ounce of considerations towards their fellow residents by committing a, b, c, d & e…..
As shocking as it may sound to you, I have been caught speeding twice, never in Cayman. Once in Europe and once in the US. I pulled over immediately when I heard the police sirens and my speeding was minimal. My car was licensed and legal. My children are teenagers about to get their drivers license so I am trying to set a good example with my driving and quite frankly, it scares the living day-light out of me to think that my kids are helplessly subjected to all those out of control drivers who are allowed to operate their vehicles on these roads day in and day out!
I’m pretty sure that a regular speeding ticket isn’t a criminal offence, whereas running from the Police is, or can be, a criminal offense. If you add in any aggravating issues, like speed, distance, endangering other road users, licence, insurance, roadworthy bike etc then yes, criminal. I must add I am not a lawyer.
It is not a criminal offence to “speed” but IT IS a criminal offence to drive without a license, without insurance, with out road tax, on an unregistered vehicle.
It is also a criminal offence to run from the police along with Reckless Driving.
BTW, its Drive not “Drives a motor vehicle.”…
It is actually a crimanal offence to speed.
Das your opinion, sah. Mines is mines.
WOW. You are the type of person who scares me when election time comes around.
The driver was driving a vehicle that had no license plate nor insurance. Hard working or not, he broke those laws.
– Traffic Law 2011 Revision
– Part 7 – Control of Road Users
– 68 (e) A driver shall comply with all signals and other lawful directions given by constables.
– 93 (q) Whoever is in breach of his duties under section 68…is liable on summary conviction to a fine of two thousand five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for six months, or to both.
Personally, I hope that the judge sees fit to hand down the maximum penalty. If it was not for his stupid, reckless and ignorant behavior, the police helicopter could have been hunting down other criminals who, I admit, would be much more deserving of the “instant karma” to which this young man was subjected, and to the justice which I hope will be handed down to him on his return to Cayman.
Well done to the RCIPS. Please keep up the good work!
They could consider obstruction of justice on the indictment too, among other crimes, if the case can be made beyond reasonable doubt.
The only obstruction of justice exhibited in the pursuit was the stupidity of the police force bothering to chase him as opposed to having the helicopter follow him until the gas ran out, and in turn being able to relay his location to the ground units. While I do agree that some form of punishment should be given (which form and the severity is debatable), I hope he is also handed a pay out from the government, not only for medical expenses, but for the pain and suffering that you can’t exactly put a price on. Police need to think before they act, not after.
I briefly read Compass front page story and picked up father wants an independent investigation? I understand the emotion and bitterness as a result, but my question is how did we get there?
It doesn’t seem that this kid was on an unlicensed bike for the very first time and got unlucky? How likely is it that the parents knew all along that the kid was riding an unlicensed vehicle which is the perfect tool for a crime? Was he cautioned and or the bike taken away? I do not want to come to any conclusions here, but this does not ad up with this young man being warned about the dangers of riding a bike which at that time I saw was weaving in and out of traffic without any lights, revving as he is being pursued? What is he had killed a pedestrian, would the father request an independent investigation as well?
I know several of the police officers on the road, and for the most part of what I see, these public servants means well. They have the right to enforce the traffic laws on the road, as it will send a very dangerous precedence with those unlicensed bikers who seem to have mushroomed when the police department was deactivated. Emotions will cause us to say and do things, but let us start at home and ask ourselves whether we did our best or we could have done better. The problem with these young boys is bigger than an unlicensed motor bike. We need to act and tackle the problem from source as all sorts of other dangerous things will follow.
Agree with most of that, but stop calling him a kid. At 20 he is a grown man. Hope he recovers and learns his lesson, but no sympathy from me
This is a frequently encountered parenting style these days. It’s the teachers fault, the governments fault, the police fault, the employers fault, etc. No accountability for self and no accountability of parents to kids (albeit this one being a grown-up!).
If my parents would have ever had to deal with me after police chasing me for miles, I would have been lucky if I didn’t get an ass whopping on top of it. That’s the difference between then and now!
I would like to know what was the speed of the high speed chase and who authorised the chase to continue for 11 miles as this is really long distance for a small island like Cayman. The RCIPS has a policy against this sort of thing, especially once the identity of the individual is known and or the license plate number can be traced to an individual the chase should stop. If it continues there must be good legal reasons to, sadly driving without an insurance and license are not some of the grounds for continuing a high speed chase. Make an FOI application and you will know what I am talking about.
I’m pretty sure they thought he was involved with the robbery, this guy happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Easy when you know he’s not got a gun fleeing a robbery to say ‘too much’. This would have been dealt with in 1 minute had he stopped. Besides no license can mean no number plate, not just missing a driving license, not so easy to trace an unlicensed bike that everyone’s been ragging on the Police to stamp out. It would be easy if the neighbours, parents, friends were to make a call to the Police before it gets to this, but that would be wishful thinking wouldn’t it. I’ve called the police on a near neighbour with a dirt bike, I’ve also called them when their burglar alarm went off. People have to get involved if you want change, there’s no ‘us and them’ when it comes to right and wrong.
Perhaps you did not understand…there is no license plate. How would the police know the identity of the rider but to give chase? How safe would we feel if he was involved in the robbery but was allowed to ride off into the sunset just because of adherence to policy?
You’re right. Unfortunately this is liable to be more legally messy than we might wish it to be.
The bike wasn’t street legal at all. It was an off road bike. I saw this kid riding up and down Walkers Road in he middle of the day with no regard to law or other people. Nobody wishes serious injury on anybody but at the end of the day, if he wasn’t riding around showing off illegally this would never have happened so its 100 percent his fault.
I would like to know what honest person runs from the police? He knew he was doing wrong, that’s why he ran. Nuff said.
11:53. Did you read the article? The bike was unlicensed, how could they get the license plate or do an FOI?
I think you missed the point. The RCIPS was not pursuing a rider driving dangerously who they had determined that did not have insurance or a licence for the vehicle… They were chasing a suspected armed robber. Pretty good legal reason to continue a pursuit.
Did you not read “unlicensed” or did I miss something??? It is an unlicensed dirt bike. These are not licensed for the public road.
Does that mean that it does not have a license tag on the rear end like every other vehicle on the road?
I am genuinely asking because one of us doesn’t understand.
Unintentional or not, he turned out to be a good decoy for the robbers.
And when innocent ppl are killed in these police chases?
and when innocent people are killed or maimed by reckless joyriders and without insurance to cover the costs to the innocent? Or when innocent people are killed because criminals believe that they can escape by driving as recklessly as possible to ensure the police stop chasing them? Yeah, its the polices fault for chasing people who are obviously breaking the law, not the criminals fault. SMH. Victim mentality writ large. Its of one piece with its not my fault, society made me this way. Always someones else fault, not the guy who consciously decided to do something that they knew was illegal, and when in trouble, run for it rather than than putting their hand up, even though doing so put other people at risk. But lets blame the police instead of the grown up “kid” who made a very bad choice.
Hold the person running responsible for that.
Finally some support for the police. The solution is simple don’t run from the police.
And to those short sighted persons who think police should not chase suspects. What would you say if someone raped you or a loved one and drove away but the police refused to chase.
Think before engaging !
I hope before anyone begins to beat up on the police, we be thankful for their act of humility. There are very few who can admit when they are wrong, even if it is only in the thought process that we were wrong.
I hope the young man pulls through ok.
They are only admitting they are wrong because the family has CCTV footage that proves that kids was elsewhere! Are you really that gullible?
And glad he did not kill anybody!
Okay fine, but after this young man heals up, he should still go to jail. If police resources had not been wasted on chasing him, maybe they collar the actual suspect. Maybe not but you lead the police on an 11 mile chase you should be charged. The excuse of he’s just a good kid breaking the law with my bike doesn’t cut it.
Are you going to jail all male population of this island? Prevention anyone?
Yes if they are a nuisance to society! I’m a young caymamian man who has worked hard to be able to pay my mortgage, bills, and have a lil left over to enjoy the comforts of which life has to offer. That didn’t happen through excuses and poor work ethics. We need to stop making excuses for these “boys” and cut out the spoon feeding! If they want to play hero, well, heros always return wounded or in a box.
Too much of the “monkey see monkey do” mentality around here. Think for yourselves, be an individual; realize that you were born by yourself and will die by yourself. Live on your terms and step outside of the box – thats the real problem with caymans youth, AND the older generations.
These presumptious fops need to be taught manners. I’ve seen them wheelieing in and out of traffic. I had to stay a distance from three of them, from Spotts all the way into Bodden Town doing every imaginable thing on those bikes. Just hope they never have an accident, because I wouldn’t render any assistance. They get what they look for. Cultivate some sense, it will grow.
go to jail? this kid may never be able to walk again and you’re worried about putting him in jail… why don’t they focus on the REAL ROBBERS, instead of worrying about unlicensed bikes and stupidness like banning bikes off the streets.
While I’m all for public safety and I do think that these bikes should be street legal i.e. proper lights especially at night because it is dangerous and I’ve experienced issues with this.
For some of these people biking is all they have known their whole life, banning the use of bikes 100% is absolutely ridiculous. Instead of banning them and TAKING THEM AWAY ON SITE, ENCOURAGE the bikers to be safe, watch out for others and ensure they have proper lights on their bikes at all times. I can understand why these young men choose to run the police (not that it’s right) but because they know that the bike will be confiscated. Get them street legal make a public campaign about road safety. You are just as capable of killing someone in a car as you are on a bike, people on this island need to get a clue.
You are a complete in imbecile.
He was chased because they thought he was one of the robbers. He did not stop when pursued as any normal law abiding citizen would.
Compass has already released his name and reason he made the terribly poor decision not to stop. It was his decision to try to evade officers, and he lost. I’m glad the police gave chase, as they are supposed to do. Hopefully this will serve as an example to the lawless dirt bike riders who have been very comfortable wheeling around without insurance, plates, lights, or care for lawful road users. Maybe some will start evaluating the chances they take with their lives and those of innocent road users. We are very lucky nobody has died.
Let the ignorant comments begin. Praying for justice and a speedy recover for this young man.
Yep, lets pray for justice. How about praying for having him meet the penalties for driving without insurance, driving dangerously, and failing to stop, endangering lives as well as his own in the process? How about praying for sending a message to others of his inclination that their behaviour is dangerous, not only to themselves by others, and to stop it? No issue with praying for his recovery, but his condition is a result of his own choices, however misguided. I am equally happy to pray for his recovery – broken spine and pelvis is a hell of a price to pay for a poor choice – but lets leave the justice BS out of it.
Jotnar – When I read the original post I took it to mean ‘justice: penalties for the law-breaking bike-rider and penalties for the real robbers’. Along with health for the injured, which is a separate thing.
I hope we all note how easily our words can be misunderstood on here (and mine might be the wrong interpretation). Here’s to peaceable and unambiguous comments on CNS.
Hopefully he makes a full recovery so he can face the consequences of his reckless actions and get a job to pay for the damage he caused to the police car. The Cayman Compass says that his family wants an investigation into the incident. Based on the publicly available information (ie unlicensed bike ridden on a public road with no insurance) the investigation should not take long and the rider will probably be facing a long list of charges. You can’t fault the police for doing their job. The fact that the parents are pointing the finger at the police for the injuries to their son when he failed to stop for the police and put the lives of everyone using the road that night between Harbour Drive and Lantern Point is sad. When are people here going to start take responsibility for their actions?
The sooner the traffic police adopt a zero tolerance policy to all minor road infractions the better off everyone will be.
Illegal bike, not licensed or insured. Endangering everyone by being on the road.
Well done RCIPS. I’d like to read more stories like this one. They get what they deserve especially when they run…. Bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Yes he should not been on the road, but to say well done after they almost kill some one by running them over…..
I would say well done if they had put that kind of effort and reaction time for them missing boaters, or well done if they find the drugs that was stolen from them.
But to say well done for running people over is not well done.
Hey, if there is no example then there is no deterrent – as harsh as that may sound thay is fact
Your first sentence was correct and is all that matters. “Yes he should not have been on the road”.
This country doesn’t have too many boys left who are not criminals. Condemning is easy, offering a solution take some brain power.
Parents who should not be parents and education – its not rocket science!
The solution to the problem, would be, have everyone of those straw brains visit a psychiatrist. There has to be an imbalance in their brains for them to act so stupid. The police need to visit some of the back roads.
This is the biker’s own fault for fleeing at high speed over 11 miles. He only selfishly cared about himself.
oh! I feel for him and his family,but dont tell me he was such a good quiet,well behaved young man. If he was such he would not be riding an illegal uninsured unlicenced bike. No excuse.