By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A POLICE officer testified yesterday how she met an injured security guard restraining a man when she responded to an altercation in the parking lot of a night club last year.
Valentino Bodie was arrested after he was accused of causing harm to a woman and assaulting a security officer with a deadly weapon at Club Waterloo in August 2020.
He denied the allegations during his initial arraignment before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis and the case was adjourned for trial.
When Corporal 3862 Shakara Forbes took the stand, she said she was dispatched to investigate a disturbance in the bar’s parking lot around 7.35pm. She said when she arrived at the scene, she observed a large crowd, and when she approached, she saw a heavily built male in a Waterloo security shirt subduing Bodie on the ground. Cpl Forbes said the security officer identified himself as Ednel Pierre and told her the accused, who he was detaining, had stabbed him in his right lower leg and right finger. She said the man’s injuries were visible as he spoke to her.
The court was told that Mr Pierre then handed the officer a yellow handled knife with a broken blade, which he claimed was the instrument with which Bodie had stabbed him. Cpl Forbes said her partner then cautioned and arrested the accused. She added that night she spoke with a woman who told her she was also beaten about the body by Bodie. Cpl Forbes said the young lady claimed the accused attempted to stab her with the yellow handled knife while she was in her vehicle attempting to leave the area.
When the woman gave evidence under oath, she also alleged that Bodie had hit her eye which had caused her to have problems with her vision. She also said she knew the accused because she was friends with his girlfriend, but stated that their friendship ended because the woman had rushed to Bodie’s side to “check up on him” after the incident, even though she was the one who had been assaulted during the altercation.
During his testimony, Corporal 4159 Rashaun Jones said when he interviewed Bodie in custody at the Wulff Road Police Station, he initially declined to comment. Still, Cpl Jones said Bodie eventually told him he was involved in an altercation with one of his girlfriend’s friends. He said the accused claimed the young lady cursed him out before chasing him to Waterloo’s parking lot where an argument followed.
The court was told Bodie told Cpl Forbes the woman then produced the knife, which he tried to take from her. He said Bodie claimed he pulled out some of the young woman’s hair during the struggle. Cpl Forbes said Bodie also said the security officer came a short time later and confronted him after he saw him with the knife.
The case continues on July 5.
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