Woman beats up police in downtown melee

DOWNTOWN Charlotte Street almost had a riot yesterday afternoon when a group of police officers had to subdue a woman who assaulted three policemen and a security guard in front of the Accessory Lady Store.

The drama began when workers and customers heard loud noises inside the store, and realised that three female robbers had entered the store. Worker Cindy Ann Charles told Newsday that the three women began to shout and some customers, in a bid to escape, fell down and knocked over several items. Charles said one of the women, a 32-year-old from Morne Coco Road, Petit Valley, placed three blouses valued at $500 between her legs. She was told to remove them, but she refused and instead removed the sensor chips from the blouses and started to walk out of the shop. As she did so, however, the blouses fell to the ground.

A security guard, Terrence Joachim intervened and was cuffed in  the left eye. He received medical treatment at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. The woman tried to leave the store by battling a party of officers including PCs James, Perez and Cephus, all of the Besson Street Police Station, who had arrived on the scene. One of the women stripped off her clothes down to her bra and a skirt, and WPC Roberts was called to control her. Charles said the woman threw herself under a police jeep and punched the officers in their faces and about their bodies.  Police sources confirmed and said PCs James, Perez and Cephus were all treated for injuries at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. 

One of the officers was treated for bites, another received six stitches over his right eye, while the other one had injuries to his hands. Charles said when the woman was eventually held, she told officers she had a two-month-old baby and that she was sorry. She also said she was pregnant. Customers were scared and the shop was in disarray. The woman was later subdued and taken to the Besson Street Police Station, while her two female accomplices managed to flee the scene. Charles added that one of the three women had called someone and a man later showed up allegedly with a firearm pounding on the entrance door. She said that onlookers were upset with the police because they had no idea what was happening.  Another female worker lamented that there is a need for added security around the area and chastised the police for coming some 45 minutes after the incident.

Police sources told Newsday that the Petit Valley woman will be charged with nine offences, four for assaulting the four officers, four for resisting arrest, and one count of larceny of the three blouses. The charges were laid by Cpl Rasheed Ali and the woman is expected to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate today.  Police sources said the woman was in a calm mood at the Besson Street Police Station, and cried. Meanwhile, police said they had no information on the man who allegedly came with the firearm.