By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN accused of harbouring former fugitive and murder accused D’Angelo Culmer was granted bail yesterday.
Prosecutors allege Deon Brown, 44, aided Culmer, 36, by concealing him from the law while he was wanted on a charge of escape from lawful custody on May 28.
Police said officers from the Internal Security Division, also known as SWAT, arrested Culmer and Brown shortly before midday last Thursday after intercepting a grey Nissan Note at the corner of Tonique Williams-Darling Highway and Premiers Avenue.
A search of the vehicle and its two occupants allegedly uncovered one pound and eight ounces of suspected marijuana in a black backpack, valued by police at $3,200.
Brown pleaded not guilty to harbouring a criminal before acting Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans.
The accused’s bail was set at $8,000 with one or two sureties. Under the terms of his bail, Brown must sign in at the Carmichael Road Police Station every Tuesday by 9pm.
Brown returns for trial on August 17.
Inspector Deon Barr prosecuted the case, while Ian Jupp represented the accused.
On Friday, Culmer pleaded guilty to escape from lawful custody after spending eight months on the run from pending charges of murder and attempted murder. Culmer was sentenced to two years in prison for the offence.
Culmer’s escape from the Magistrate’s Court complex on South Street on October 2, 2025, triggered an eight-month manhunt, internal police investigations and tribunal proceedings against officers responsible for his custody.
During Culmer’s arraignment, he claimed the person arrested with him last Thursday was only giving him a ride that night. He said Ms Pratt had nothing to do with it.
Culmer’s escape raised serious questions about security at the court complex. Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles confirmed in November that three police officers were under investigation in connection with the breach and said security protocols had been strengthened to prevent another escape.
By January, Commissioner Knowles said the three officers had been brought before a police tribunal over Culmer’s escape. One officer had been interdicted, and another was expected to face interdiction as the tribunal process progressed. The status of those disciplinary proceedings is unclear.
Culmer was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court on February 16, 2024, on one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder after prosecutors accused him of opening fire from a vehicle at a group of people on January 31, 2024.
A 39-year-old woman was killed in the shooting on Ragged Island Street. Carla Bain and Lorenzo Sands were also injured.
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