Crash and shootout in Oropouche family’s yard

FOR about 15 seconds yesterday morning, the gallery of a house belonging to an Oropouche family was the scene of a car crash and a shootout between bandits and police.

The incident at St John’s Branch Road was the culmination of a high-speed chase between three bandits driving a stolen car and police. One of the bandits was reportedly shot in the leg, and lawmen were said to be hot on the trail conducting aerial and foot patrols through the mangroves and surrounding areas in the southwestern district. The drama unfolded around 9 am when police were acting on a tip-off that the vehicle, which was reported stolen on Friday in Gasparillo, was spotted in Oropouche. Lawmen on mobile patrol were chasing the stolen car, a green Daihatsu Charmant, through the rural area.  Upon reaching a junction, the car skidded off the road and slammed into a flat concrete house where residents Rajesh Dookaran, 30, and his wife, Sunita, 22, were relaxing in the gallery. Dookaran said: “I heard a siren so I turned my head to see what was around the corner. I saw a car speeding, then like it was coming towards us. I just pushed my wife inside and we lay on the ground. The car crashed about ten feet in front of us.”  Still visibly shaken, Dookaran, a father of two, added: “Shots started flying above my head. I could have lost my life right there.”

Dookaran’s mother-in-law, Kamlee Kangal, 53, the owner of the house, was watching television with her four- and five-year-old granddaughters mere footsteps from the gallery. Kangal, who is ailing from a heart condition, pushed the two children to the floor and threw herself over them as the bullets flew just outside her window. Kangal told Newsday: “I heard a loud bang. When I peeped out and saw what was going on, I started to tremble and cry, then I fainted.” While the residents were not injured in the incident, the crash knocked off a three-foot concrete wall in the gallery, a small iron gate and caused the walls to crack in the living room and bedroom.  Police traced the stolen car to its owner Sookchan Harrilal, a Princes Town businessman. Harrilal was contacted by the police yesterday and visited the scene. Kangal said Harrilal has offered to repair the damage to the house.