Auto-theft leads to police arrests including asst sup.!!

[Dr.Dudd]

Auto-theft investigation leads to police arrests
Published: Thursday | June 4, 2009


Four policemen, including an assistant superintendent, were yesterday arrested in connection with the mysterious disappearance of two men, five years ago, from the Washington Boulevard Plaza, St Andrew.
A release yesterday from Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields said the lawmen would be interviewed in due course, but because of the ongoing investigation their identities could not be disclosed at this time.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Leslie Green confirmed that an assistant superintendent of police has been jailed.

"But he has not been charged," said ACP Green.

The policemen were arrested after the top brass of the Jamaica Constabulary Force reopened a case into the disappearance of Kemar Walters and Oliver Duncan, who were allegedly abducted on December 23, 2004.

The police reopened the case, following a Gleaner investigation which had revealed that members of the police force and civilians were involved in a major auto-theft ring at the time.

Possible link

The Gleaner investigation also suggested that Walters and Duncan might have been killed because of their involvement in the illegal operation.

At least seven members of the police force have now been implicated in the matter.

Prior to the reopening of the case, a corporal was taken into custody, questioned and released, while a sergeant was arrested and charged, but later acquitted in the courts.

Reports reaching The Gleaner are that the senior officer now in jail was attached to the Organised Crime Investigation Division at the time when the men went missing. He was recently transferred to another section of the police force.

More Lead Stories E-mail this story Print this Page E-mail the Editor More Articles from Lead Stories
Youth believe - GG's 'children' chart new course
Jamaica welcomes Cuba back into the OAS
'No need to fear' - Robertson discounts possible energy worries on the back of Petrojam accident
Kern's lawsuit goes to Constitutional Court
Prostitution, buggery laws hamper HIV/STI services
Kidnap foiled
Shields set to stay for three more months
Help on hold - Research about reasons for boys' underperformance still not funded, PIOJ seeks grants overseas

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Auto-theft leads to police arrests including asst sup.!!

Four cops busted

Implicated in 2004 Washington Boulevard kidnapping

By Karyl Walker, Crime/Court Desk co-ordinator [email protected]

Thursday, June 04, 2009

FOUR policemen, including a senior officer, were last night being held at the high-security New Horizon Remand Centre in Kingston, following their arrests for the December 2004 disappearance of two men from a shopping centre in Kingston.


The burnt-out Honda CRV which was found in the mangroves along the Port Royal Road in January 2005. (Observer file photo)

The men - Kemar Walters and Oliver Duncan - were abducted from the bustling shopping centre along the Washington Boulevard and their Honda CRV later found burnt to a shell on the Port Royal Road in Kingston. However, their bodies were never found.

Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner in charge of the crime portfolio, said the identities and ranks of the cops would not be released as the investigation was continuing.

"I will not comment on that, all I will say is that they are in custody and will be questioned in due course," Shields told the Observer.


SHIELDS. they are in custody and will be questioned in due course

Shields said the families of the kidnapped men were informed of the arrests and while their remains had yet to be found, the police were looking to help the grieving families find closure.

The news further jolted the image of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, following sharply on Tuesday's announcement by Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin that he had retired 10 cops in the public interest, in connection with the deadly lotto scam in the northcoast resort city of Montego Bay.

Walters and Duncan were reportedly bundled into a vehicle and carted off by three armed men, one of whom was wearing a police vest.

Walters' father, Lloyd Walters, operated an auto repair garage on West Main Road in St Andrew where Duncan had been a client for about a year.

Police said that on the day both men were abducted, Duncan had gone to the garage driving a dark blue Honda CRV. He gave Walters a lift to the nearby Washington Plaza on Washington Boulevard as he was going to purchase auto parts.

But the men were apparently detained by the cops and have not been seen since. One of the cops reportedly drove away the sports utility vehicle.

Two weeks after the incident a burnt out shell of a Honda CRV was found in the mangroves on Port Royal Road but despite several searches by the police in that area, the remains of the two men were not found.

Duncan was alleged to be a major player in a multimillion-dollar car-stealing ring which involved policemen, body repairmen and car alarm technicians.
Three cops who were assigned to the Organised Crime Unit were implicated in the case.

Then Police Commissioner Francis Forbes sought help from Scotland Yard investigators to crack the case, but the investigation hit a snag and a police corporal who was charged with unlawful abduction in connection with the case was freed because of lack of evidence.

However, in April last year, Shields called a press conference to announce that the police had uncovered fresh evidence and had reopened the probe.

Yesterday he again appealed to his colleagues in the force with information about the abductions to come forward.

"It remains a blot on the history of the Jamaica Constabulary Force but we will not stop until we reach the end of the investigation," Shields said.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn, is also being kept abreast of the latest developments of the investigation, Shields said.