COP STABBED WOMAN...THEN DRINKS POISONBy Nalinee Seelal Monday, July 2 2012
A Special Reserve Police Officer (SRP) is now fighting for his life at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital after ingesting a deadly herbicide (Swiper) used for destroying grass following an altercation at his home with his 45-year-old close female relative. The officer allegedly stabbed the woman several times following an argument at their Petit Valley home on Saturday night and then ingested the herbicide.
According to reports the couple who lives at Fourth Street, Paradise Simeon Road, Petit Valley was at their home on Saturday when they had an argument.
According to reports at about 11 pm on Saturday the 54-year-old officer had a quarrel with his close relative, Hazel Toussaint-Chadband.
During the argument, the officer who is based in the Western Division reportedly expressed anger over the woman’s decision to attend a fete on Saturday.
Toussaint-Chadband reportedly told the officer she had no reason to feel sorry for attending the fete, causing him to become further enraged.
According to police reports, the officer took a kitchen knife and stabbed Toussaint-Chadband several times about the body, then took a cutlass and began beating her with the flat side of it.
As the woman lay bleeding on the ground, the officer took a bottle of Swiper and ingested the contents.
He then forced the bleeding woman into his car and drove to the St James Medical Infirmary where the couple remained unable to even alight from the vehicle.
Police later learnt that the officer again drank from the bottle of herbicide while seated in the car with Toussaint-Chadband outside the St James Infirmary.
Surprised medical personnel took control of the situation by removing the couple from the car as doctors attempted to treat them for their injuries. However, by midnight a decision was taken to convey the officer and Toussaint-Chadband to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where they remained warded up until yesterday.
The officer was treated and accommodated on Ward 41 of the hospital while Toussaint-Chadband was at Ward 23 being treated for her injuries.
The officer was also under police guard while Toussaint-Chadband requested protection. When Newsday visited Toussaint-Chadband at hospital yesterday, she was being interviewed by two police officers.
Yesterday her condition was listed as serious but stable while doctors yesterday pumped the contents of the officer’s stomach in an attempt to save his life.
Officers of the Four Roads Police station were contacted by doctors who informed them of the incident prompting officers to go to the home of the couple where they seized a kitchen knife and cutlass. The bottle containing the herbicide was seized from the officer’s car. Cpl Farrell of the Four Roads Police station is assigned to probe the incident.
When Newsday visited the scene of the incident yesterday, the wooden house appeared to be locked up with no one in sight. Neighbours said they remember hearing shouting on Saturday night but only learnt of the incident after police returned to the house and took away the kitchen knife and cutlass.
A man who lives close to the couple’s house said he often heard quarrelling coming from the house but was unable to say what was triggering the discontent. Neighbours expressed surprise over the incident and wished Toussaint-Chadband a speedy recovery.
The officer who retired from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service as a Corporal after serving 30 years, returned to the service as an SRP. He was attached to Western Division as a support officer.
Police officers expressed surprise over the incident and said they have been providing counselling for officers with domestic problems and they remained open to assist anyone even those outside the police service in need of support and counselling.
Also yesterday Deputy Police Commissioner Mervyn Richardson said he was only apprised of the incident yesterday and said “It is unfortunate but I am awaiting further information on the matter.
It is now a police investigation and the law will have to take its course. However, the police service encourages its officers who may be encountering domestic challenges to seek help from the witness support officers along with our counsellors who are located in the various divisions to assist officers with similar problems.”
Yesterday investigators probing the incident told Newsday they were recording statements in the investigation and were hoping to bring closure to the probe in a few days time.
