The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

A MAN’S lawsuit accusing police of assaulting, threatening and extorting him has been thrown out after a Supreme Court registrar found that he waited too long to bring the case, describing the proceedings as vexatious and an abuse of the court’s process.

Trevor Russell claimed police officers assaulted him and pressured him to produce $1,500 during an investigation into an alleged kidnapping and extortion scheme. However, Registrar Renaldo Toote found that Mr Russell filed his lawsuit nearly 18 months after the February 2024 incident, beyond the one-year deadline for claims arising from police carrying out their public duties.

Mr Russell claimed the incident began after he accepted a taxi booking from a man and a female tourist. He said police later contacted him after the tourist’s mother accused him of kidnapping her daughter and demanding money.

Mr Russell maintained that the $1,500 he received through Venmo was payment for an island tour. He alleged that after going to the police station, he was questioned, arrested and taken to the Central Detective Unit, where he was threatened and assaulted and pressured to obtain another $1,500.

He claimed a friend delivered the money and that he was charged the following day with extortion. The charge was eventually dismissed after several adjournments but $1,500 was never returned, according to his claim.

Police disputed his account, saying officers were responding to a report involving a possible hostage situation or extortion demand. They said Mr Russell was cautioned and arrested, while a complainant attended the police station, an identification was made and telephone evidence was obtained.

Registrar Toote said he was not deciding which version of events was true, but rather to determine whether Mr Russell brought his case within the legal deadline.

The court found that Mr Russell had sued the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Attorney General but had not named any individual officers as defendants. The registrar found that the allegations arose from police investigating, questioning, arresting and charging Mr Russell and therefore fell under the one-year deadline.

He also rejected Mr Russell’s argument that his financial losses, inability to work, reputational damage and fear amounted to a continuing injury that extended the deadline.

His allegations relating to 2018 were also found to be out of time as Mr Russell did not begin his legal action until August 2025.

The court further rejected his attempt to rely on constitutional rights to overcome the deadline, finding that the lawsuit was essentially a claim for damages and had not been properly brought as a constitutional case.

Registrar Toote ultimately struck out Mr Russell’s entire lawsuit and ordered him to pay $5,000 in costs to the defendants.