Fleeing stabbing victim smashed police HQ door – cop

PORT ANTONIO, Portland:

Damage to the entrance of the new state-of-the-art police station in Port Antonio was caused bizarrely by a stabbing victim fleeing for his life, authorities in the Portland capital have said.

Speaking with The Gleaner on Monday, newly promoted Deputy Superintendent of Police Linton Bailey said that Herbert Hemmings, a resident of Hope Bay in the parish, was being chased by another man and crashed into the glass door.

The $104-million Portland police divisional headquarters was officially opened by Prime Andrew Holness in late July but is yet to be fully operational.

Bailey has dismissed suggestions by two police sources who requested anonymity that vandals were to blame for the damage to the station.

“Hemmings was fleeing his attacker and ran towards the station, thinking that it was open. He slammed into the glass door, and it was shattered,” said Bailey.

Fitzroy Brown, the senior cop said, has since been arrested and is to face the court in November to answer to charge of wounding with intent.

A homeless man, said to be mentally ill, has also turned the entrance into a makeshift rest spot.

Port Antonio has been overrun with mentally ill and homeless persons who occupy several corridors at the resort town, including the busy commercial strips of William, West, and Harbour streets.

Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, who is in charge of the police communications arm, said that she was aware of the homeless taking refuge at the front of the new divisional headquarters but indicated that removing such persons was the remit of the municipal corporation.

“That matter, in itself, is being dealt with by the police,” said Lindsay. “The challenge is that the police cannot remove those persons from off the street.”