Chaos broke out at the Stabroek Police Outpost on Thursday last when a prisoner armed himself with a cutlass, chopped off the handcuffs from his hands and made good his escape.
According to information, on the day in question, around 16:30h, ranks arrested Gary Grant, a 34-year-old resident of Norton Street, Georgetown, who allegedly stole a cellular phone from a female resident.
The Corporal who was in charge of the night shift at the Outpost instructed his subordinates to handcuff the man’s right hand to a metal bar that was attached to a wall inside the structure and place him to sit on a bench.
Ranks stated that the man had been banging on the walls and throwing items at them throughout the afternoon.
Subsequently, one of the ranks attached to the Outpost informed the Corporal of the man’s behaviour and suggested that he be sent to the Brickdam Police Station, but the request was denied.
The rank further stated that the prisoner was shouting at the top of his voice claiming that he was very strong and was a good sprinter, but they ignored the outbursts and slurs.
At approximately 22:20h the same night, the prisoner suddenly jumped into the air and kicked down the plywood counter of the outpost. A cutlass that was hidden under the counter was then revealed, and the prisoner used it to chop off the handcuffs and made his escape.
However, before leaving, the prisoner used the cutlass to chop several electrical wires thus resulting in the Outpost plunging into darkness.
Nevertheless, a large crowd gathered after seeing and hearing the commotion. A public-spirited citizen quickly got into action and attempted to prevent the prisoner from escaping, but he did not succeed as the prisoner kept ‘firing chops’ at them with the cutlass.
The lone female Police rank out of fear began to run as the man went after her with the cutlass in his hand.
As the woman made efforts to escape, she stumbled over two bread stalls at the Market.
The prisoner eventually backed off and made good his escape by running around the fence of the Parliament Building. The patrol vehicle that was summoned arrived shortly after the chaos, at the scene.
