The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FOUR years after he was allegedly hit by a truck, 27-year-old Theo Saunders claimed he is still unable to obtain a police report in relation to this matter.

In 2017, The Tribune reported Mr Saunders saying he was knocked down by the vehicle from a local gaming house as he watched the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Road Fever March in May of that year. However, he was unable to seek legal recourse due to the absence of the police report.

The 27-year-old told The Tribune he has been trying to get a police report ever since but has been repeatedly told it was not ready. When asked if officers gave an excuse why the report was not ready, Mr Saunders said he never received one.

“It got so frustrating and tiring. Keeping going there - hearing the same thing over and over,” he said.

He said he checked on the matter again last year at the traffic division.

“The last time I actually followed up I think last year January and that was due to the fact the pandemic came around and we were on lockdown.”

More recent calls to the police station for an update have been unsuccessful, he said.

In 2017, Mr Saunders said he had recurring headaches and total numbness in his right leg from the knee down. Now, Mr Saunders claimed he still experiences numbness in his leg.

He added: “To date, like I still have some sort of numb feeling from right knee go down. Like it is be on and off. They said because where I get hit on my back it was spinal shock that caused the (numb) feelings on the right side.

“When I was examined in the hospital when the initial accident happened back in 2017, that’s what they deemed it – a spinal shock.”

Although he is employed now, Mr Saunders added the incident left him unemployed for nearly two years.

“At that time when I got hit in 2017, I got released from hospital I couldn’t work because I was walking with a cane for I think a year and a half until I actually decided to just put it down.”

He claimed that neither the local gaming house nor the truck driver reached out to him.

“To date, I actually messaged both of these persons and I didn’t get an answer on all social media forums,” Mr Saunders said.

The Tribune contacted the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Traffic Division to ask what would hold up a police report for two years. Police said in normal instances it should be turned over no later than 14 days once everything is in order, but did not speak specifically to Ms Saunders’ case.