ComPol Williams Decries His Offender’s Slap on the Wrist

On Monday, a Belizean American man who attended the Carnival Road March in Orange Walk Town was arrested and charged for assaulting the Commissioner of Police. ComPol Williams was on duty during the event when he encountered Jaron James McKay drinking beer out of a glass bottle.  When he attempted to take hold of the bottle, McKay reportedly shoved him, before grabbing the commissioner by the shirt.  McKay was arraigned before the lower courts yesterday and was fined one thousand, five hundred dollars for the offense. According to ComPol Williams the decision taken by the magistrate’s court sends a wrong message to anyone who’s intent on harming law enforcement officers.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“This individual seems to be big and bad.  His entire demeanor seems to be disrespectful.  I spotted him, like I did many other people, consuming alcohol from a bottle.  He was in the company of a female, I believe she was his partner, and I approached him very nicely.  I said to him, sir you cannot be consuming alcohol in bottles and I went to retrieve the bottle from him and when I did that, he pulled away his hand and he pushed me.  I had a nice piece of rosewood in my hands that weighed about five pounds and when he pushed me I just kept my cool and I told him again to surrender the bottle.  At this time he grabbed me in my shirt.  I was wearing official police uniform.  He grabbed me in my shirt and pulled my shirt.  At that time, the officer that I was with came and intervened between us and he held on to him.  While the officer held on to him, he still held on to my shirt for about a minute, saying to the officers, I want him, I want him.  In other words, he wants me, right.  I don’t know what, if he had some kind of wish.  But again, I had maintained my cool because if I had used my baton on him, it would have been a different story.  The officers eventually subdued him, cuffed him and he was ferried away to the police station.”