Kidnap accused shot dead

A MAN who was out on bail on a kidnapping charge, was shot dead by police during a high-speed chase and shoot-out in St Helena, Piarco yesterday, while another man remains warded in critical condition under police guard suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police sources identified the dead man as Kerron Toppin, 20, of Tunapuna who was charged last year for the kidnapping of brothers’ Richard and Ronald Nath, owners of Nath’s Furniture store in Sangre Grande.

The other suspect remains in critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope.

According to police reports, at about 11.45 pm, Toppin and two other men held up and robbed a man of his Mitsubishi Lancer motorcar outside a Chinese restaurant off the Eastern Main Road in Tunapuna.

The owner telephoned the police and gave the officers a description of the men, following which he also made a report to the Tunapuna Police Station.

Arima CID officers who were on patrol at the time, spotted the victim’s vehicle with the two suspects inside proceeding along the Eastern Main Road, Tunapuna. On seeing the officers, the bandits sped- off and a high-speed chase ensued, all the way to St Helena.

The chase ended when the car crashed into a lamp post in El Carmen, St Helena. Police sources said the men alighted from the vehicle and opened fire on the officers who took cover and returned fire.

One man escaped through nearby bushes but police found Toppin and the other man inside the car. Both men were taken to the EWMSC, where Toppin was pronounced dead on arrival. Police sources said the officers seized a loaded revolver from the car.

ACP (Crime) Clive Reyes was high in praise of his officers who were involved in the shoot-out.

“It was a fantastic effort by the police who placed their very lives at risk in facing these criminals. We have been paying special attention to the incidence of car-jackings and I commend the officers for their work,” Reyes said.

Toppin along with eight other persons including two Special Reserve Police officers were charged with the Nath kidnappings which allegedly took place on June 27, 2005 in Valencia.