By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
THE father of a 30-year-old biker killed in a collision last week has raised issues with the police’s account of the incident, claiming his son was being chased by officers when he was fatally struck by a vehicle that allegedly had run a traffic light.
In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Clarence Dean Sr suggested the preliminary reports surrounding his son’s crash had failed to “clearly identify several important things”, insisting that all accounts received from those who had witnessed the crash noted police involvement.
“I just want to know what actually happened,” he said. “The reports say my son ran a red light and hit a truck, but everyone that was there, two other riders and three young women, they all say the police saw them, pursued them and things got out of hand for whatever reason.”
According to initial reports from police, the victim was with a female passenger on his motorcycle in the area of Soldier Road and East Street when he ran a red light after 3am on Tuesday, March 5. Police said he collided with a GMC Silverado truck and both victims were rushed to hospital where Dean Jr later died.
Mr Dean Sr, a commander with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, said: “My son and two of his friends were at a party where they met three girls. The girls asked if they would take them on a ride on their bikes. It was three of them, each had a girl on the back when something happened and the police showed up.
“Everyone has given me that story. The police showed up and some sort of chase happened. The police throughout this chase bumped a couple of the bikes at different points,” he claimed.
“According to my son’s friends and the girl who was riding with him, my son didn’t run the light, he had a green light; the truck ran the light and made contact with my son. I have been in contact with the police, the girl in the hospital and everyone else besides the truck driver,” he added.
“We want a proper investigation and we want this to be reported right. If the police was involved, then we want to know what was the case. It is not about pointing the finger, it’s about getting to the truth,” Mr Dean Sr told The Tribune.
When asked how his family was dealing with the tragedy, the distraught father said arrangements still hadn’t been made to lay his son to rest, as the family was still awaiting the completion of an autopsy.
“They told us one should be completed either tomorrow or Tuesday. We’re waiting. Until then, I just want the truth,” he added. “Since this happened, we’ve been hearing all sorts of things. They all fall in line with a chase and crash, only what the police said is different.
“The girl he was with, she’s still in hospital fighting. She has a broken leg, broken ankle, rib damage and trauma to the head. When she started to come around she reached out to us and told us what had happened.”
Mr Dean Sr said the family is seeking a proper investigation and detailed report on the circumstances surrounding the crash, telling The Tribune: “It’s only right.”
Dean Jr’s death marked the 12th traffic fatality of the year, according to police.
Calls placed to senior officers attached to the Police Traffic Unit were unsuccessful up to press time.
Comments
Caspa 5 years, 1 month ago
Police was the cause of my big brother’s death. I don’t trust none if yall.
DDK 5 years, 1 month ago
FAR TOO MANY negatives and discrepancies occurring with The RBPF. One cannot help but wonder whether they are the good guys or the rogues.....
ThisIsOurs 5 years, 1 month ago
Theyre the good guys who refuse to reveal the bad apples
John 5 years, 1 month ago
The police force has become a headless monster that is preying on its own people..even the innocent ones...but your clueless comish says 'there will be casualties' men and women who are innocent will get tortured and fish bagged.' Some will lose their lives. Is the country better off to have a police force operating outside the law or in this fashion?
DDK 5 years, 1 month ago
"Is the country better off to have a police force operating outside the law or in this fashion?" Which fashion?
hrysippus 5 years, 1 month ago
A police force can act with evil even when operating within the law. The 70 million Russian citizens that perished in Joseph Stalin's purges were lawfully arrested by the state police before being transported to the gulags. The French police helped round up the communists, the Romany, and mentally impaired to be killed in the extermination camps of the Nazis. A police force is very capable of acting evilly. The only protection the ordinary citizen has is strong and effective oversight. The local newspapers and social media have a vital role to play in keeping the wrongdoings of the police in check .
John 5 years, 1 month ago
Go back and read the article to get your answer. The police are saying the biker ran the light and got hit. The onlookers are saying otherwise. Well who are the witnesses at 3:00 am. They are also saying the police was chasing the bikers and "bumping them'. with the patrol cars I guess. And the police also operate certain vehicles similar to the truck described.
bookiedread 5 years, 1 month ago
This country is getting just like the United States. These officers are out there protecting this country and always fall under scrutiny. The question is and should be, "What do law abiding citizens do when requested to stop by police?" The minute I see flashing lights and hear sirens, I pull to the side. Just food for thought.
DDK 5 years, 1 month ago
Have there not been law enforcement officers from the aforementioned country in our country giving "advice" to and "assisting" our officers?
licks2 5 years, 1 month ago
Two nonsensical posts by two strangers to common sense reasoning and logic!! Don't bother to reply to me. . .just like you give the police pre-judgments "ALL-THE-TIME" . . .I see you two as mental pygmies when it comes to normal reasoning where police are accused for anything. . .YOU TWO JUST GO OFF INTO THE SILLY ATMOSPHERE WITHOUT ANY KIND OF COMMON REASONING SENSE ABOUT YOURSELF!!
Quite frankly I think you two have degrade down to stupidity. . .at worst. . .or at best. . .self-blindness!! Either way. . .GROW THE HELL UP!!
DDK 5 years, 1 month ago
Quite frankly, you appear to be a moron of the highest order!
John 5 years, 1 month ago
"FAR TOO MANY negatives and discrepancies occurring with The RBPF. One cannot help but wonder whether they are the good guys or the rogues.....'"
The police must be seen to be operating within the law and not taking the law into their own hands, as judge, jury and executioner. If you have an issue with this, then your brain is embalmed. When incidents like this happen involving the police, especially when someone is killed, then there should be a proper investigation. Was it determined if the truck that struck the biiker was not he one operated by undercover police and the biker was not just a victim of a traffic accident?
Upvote0
DDK 5 years, 1 month ago
Am in TOTAL agreement, John!
hrysippus 5 years, 1 month ago
Hey Lacks2, what's with all this pygmy stuff, what's wrong with being short? You don't like short people, eh? But you love police, especially when they in uniform. You're not alone though, plenty police baby mamas out there...
Chucky 5 years, 1 month ago
Some people will soon teach these police a lesson and I ain't gonna have no sympathy for them when it happens
Future 5 years, 1 month ago
U can always easily identify the individuals who support the criminal element
John 5 years, 1 month ago
You can easily identify those that support corruption or bad behavior that doesn’t affect them or their families. If the police had been bumping the bikes with their patrol cars, what’s the possibility that the truck was also inch in this? Police are not gods and when their actions are questionable, then there should be a proper investigation. This is what help reduce crime in the US. Police know their actions are being monitored and rogue and bad behavior will not be tolerated. In fact it can lead to lawsuits and firings. Here police still snatch people’s phones and break them up even.
Future 5 years, 1 month ago
THE PROBLEM IS THE CRIMINALS. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID WHY THEY GOT THEIR ASS SHOT!!!!
ThisIsOurs 5 years, 1 month ago
You can have guilty criminals good police and bad police
DWW 5 years, 1 month ago
It's called evading and resisting arrest. Which means the "biker" had broken 2 laws immediatley therefore he was a criminal therefore police are authorized to use the force they deem necessary in the interest of protecting the public. Very likely several other laws were broken if it was 3am such as speeding, drinking driving, driving with undue care, wreckless endangerment, erc. Etc. Stop pitying the criminal while complaining that we are a lawless cuntry. Dibmnuts
bogart 5 years, 1 month ago
FACT MATTER......!!!!!!!!!!!...MOURNING...,!!... SAD DEATH OF A SON.....UNDENIABLY......LOVED....BY MANY....!!!!!!!! INVESTIGATIONS WILL UNQUESTIONABLY ....MANDATED PROCEDURES.....BY LAW ....ERRYONE...LAWS HAVE TO APPLY ..VIGOROUSLY ...ENTIRE NATION..PERIOD....!!!!!!!! SPECULATIONS WILL BE RAMPANT......Many....blood pressure up.....many anger......transposing...ills....venting....past wrongdoings publictly known...internalized...in adding on to unfairness...victimizations...immoral...unethical...public known...to we pore disadvantaged...big shots get off..alleged.even one professional doctor shooting one in foot....and allegedly by another professional getting person charged off......Small people only going to jail...sporatic... ROUNDING ILLEGALS....BUT WHO EMPLOYER CHARGED...HARBORING......???...Who charged employing...???.a common sense beloved patriotic (yes many know she open her mout out of line...but who else opened glaring not charged employer) digilant Magistrate raising matter loved by pore ordinary people but Top Official..no less....publictly. critizing her....( seems to public over all heads official in her line) ...till ....only recently ..all of a sudden 40 X white collar crimes charged come up.....EACH CASE NEEDS TO BE investigated..AN PUBLICTLY DONE....NOT TAINTED...CONNECTED...TRANSPOSED..........OVER TO..painted erryone... erry 5 years govt changes.....PUBLICTLY IN GUBBERMINT....Widespread Corruption YES YES....YES..!!!!!!!!!!!. ..WE MOURNING .....THE MOST GUT WRENCHING...SAD...LOVED...PERSON...PASSED AWAY ALWAYS UNEXPECTED ...TRAGIC...MANY SAD SAD FACT.
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