‘Skelly’ and friends eye $100,000 reward

CRIME Stoppers have decided to stick with the $100,000 reward they are offering for the capture of the country’s most wanted man, Sheldon “Skelly” Lovell.

There is speculation by police and others that there might be some sort of collusion between the wanted man and others to get the money for themselves. Asked about this yesterday, Crime Stoppers co-ordinator ASP Wayne Richards told Newsday there is nothing they can do since this was the way the organisation operates. “Unless it can be proven that collusion took place, we are duty bound to pay if someone calls in and he (Lovell) is arrested based on the information,” Richards said. The senior officer added that Crime Stoppers is not an investigative unit, and that the information would be passed on to the police. “If they (police) can verify that he (Lovell) and that person works together, the police will have to direct us accordingly,” Richards said.

Police on Monday issued warrants of arrest for Lovell, 27, of Morvant and two other men identified by police only as “Gumbo” and “Fruity.” The warrants charge the three men with kidnapping and falsely imprisoning teenagers Yves Ayoung Chee and Benedict Barrette on the morning of July 17 at Marli Street.  The two boys were coming from Club Coconuts and were forced to stop after a black car with a siren approached them. Two other men, former Special Reserve Police (SRP) officer Reginald Gibson and TSTT technician Kenny Bonnett have also been charged with the teenagers’ kidnapping, and are due to put in another court appearance on August 8. The three wanted men remained at large up to late evening, but Lovell has since contacted his attorney, who indicated that Lovell would more than likely surrender on Monday to avoid spending the holiday weekend in jail.  However police said that no bail has been endorsed on the arrest warrants.

Newsday learned that Lovell’s attorney received another telephone call from him yesterday and sources said it appears that the wanted man is “playing games.” The day before, Lovell contacted a lawyer and indicated his willingness to surrender Monday to face the charges. Later Wednesday, however, sources said Lovell changed his mind and decided he wanted to surrender Wednesday night, hours after his photograph appeared in the daily newspapers.  Lovell never showed up and sources said his attorney believes the wanted man is afraid to leave his hiding place for fear of being killed. In the meantime, however, members of the Anti Kidnapping Squad (AKS) said they are continuing to look for Lovell, who reportedly owns a stretch limousine. Asked if Lovell was the lone operator in his kidnapping ring, senior police officers replied in the affirmative, but stated that at one time he worked together with several popular kidnap kingpins. Lovell was also under investigation at one time by the Stolen Vehicles Department and was discharged on a auto theft charge because of a technicality.