‘If mi resist, mi dead’

One of the main witnesses in the Clansman-One Don Gang had reportedly told the police when he was arrested that he would have been killed if he had refused to comply with the One Don Gang’s order.

An investigator in the gang case testified Thursday that when the police cautioned the ex-gangster after telling him that he was a suspect in the gang case, he remarked: “Boss, mi nuh have a choice. If mi resist, mi dead.”

The police witness, a detective sergeant, testified that he was part of a joint security force team that swooped down on the ex-gangster at his home in June 2019 during an operation that resulted in a number of arrests.

The ex-gangster, who is the prosecution’s first witness and was primarily the personal driver of reputed leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan and the gang’s banker, had testified that he was forced into the criminal organisation by Blackman and that he did his bidding out of fear that he would be killed.

“From you a deal wid dem gangsters, you cah refuse. Once you refuse, you know you a guh dead. Basically, that’s it,” he had said.

However, the investigator, in continuing his evidence, said the police had searched the witness’ home and had seized six cellular phones.

The investigator also recalled that when he arrested alleged gangster Fabian Johnson, alias ‘ ‘Crocs’, on Beeston Street in downtown Kingston, he told him, under caution, that he was an entertainer and that he fraternised with singer I-Octane.

The lone female alleged gangster, St Thomas pastor Stephanie Christie, had feigned ignorance when she was arrested at a church in the parish, the court was told.

The detective said when the police showed up at the church on July 10, 2019, preparation was in full swing for an event in which Christie’s husband was to be ordained. He remembered that persons were cooking and “prettying up” the church.

The officer also recalled finding Christie sitting inside a vehicle on the compound making bouquets.

He said after the police informed her that she was a suspect in a gang investigation, she said, “Me, Mr … , which gang yah talk bout?’

The female defendant reportedly begged the police not to take her in as her husband was to be ordained that day and she wanted to witness the event. That request was refused, the police said.

Meanwhile, earlier in the trial, the detective sergeant continued his recollection of an incident in which two members of the gang were killed by the police on June 25, 2019.

He told the court that after the men who were travelling in a brown Toyota Axio had fired at the police and eluded them during a chase, he later went to a crime scene on Port Henderson Road in Spanish Town where he saw one of the men lying lifeless in the front, while another was seen motionless along the road in bushes.

The witness, who had previously testified that he had spotted the car on Martin Street in Spanish Town when the car he was driving had come under fire, told the court that the day before the incident, an ex-member of the gang had driven the same car to the office of the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime in downtown Kingston.

The car in question, according to two ex-members who are Crown witnesses, was called the ‘Duppy Truck’ and was used in gang attacks.

The police witness told the court that on the day of the incident, he and the lead detective had travelled to Martin Street to prevent a shooting based on intelligence.

The ex-gangster, the prosecution’s second witness, had been the driver of the Duppy Truck, the court heard.

During cross-examination, it was also revealed that the prosecution’s second witness, in his statement surrounding the incident, had said that one of the men had fired at the police and he had jumped from the car and run into a river.

Bryan and 32 other alleged gang members are being tried on an indictment with 25 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act.

The One Don Gang is a breakaway faction of the Clansman Gang.

The case resumes on Monday.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com