Bandit shot in the headBy NALINEE SEELAL Monday, September 3 2012
A SUSPECTED car thief remains warded in critical condition after he was found shot in the head and barely conscious inside a stolen car which had crashed off the road in Trou Macaque Road, Laventille, during the early morning hours yesterday.
Police sources said doctors at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital have given the shot man, a 20-year-old from Never Dirty, Morvant, a 50-50 chance of recovering as the bullet penetrated his skull and remains lodged deep inside his brain.
Meanwhile, the owner of the stolen car — a 32-year-old part- time taxi driver — was yesterday thanking his lucky stars for having survived the ordeal in which he was hijacked by three male passengers, savagely beaten and had a gun pointed at his head and the trigger pulled, only for the weapon to jam and not fire.
Shaun Peter De-Garson, while agreeing to be interviewed by Newsday, said he did not want his photograph taken, “for security reasons”. He told Newsday due to the crime situation, he usually worked his car only “for a few hours” at night before going home. But on Saturday he decided to work a little longer because he wanted to raise money to pay off some outstanding bills.
De-Garson said he picked up the three men at Curepe Junction at about midnight. On reaching Farm Road, St Joseph, one of the men grabbed him from behind and “locked” his neck while another pointed a gun at his face and ordered him to continue driving.
“While driving, I kept thinking about my three children who tonight could no longer have their father. I prayed and searched for an avenue to escape these three bandits,” De-Garson told Newsday.
He said while driving along the road towards Barataria, the men kept threatening to kill him with the gunman pointing the gun at his face and at the back of his neck.
at one point, the men ordered him to stop the car, but he ignored this command and kept driving.
For disobeying this instruction, De-Garson was cuffed repeatedly and also beaten with the butt of the gun. Even while being beaten, De-Garson said he continued driving with the intention of heading straight to the Barataria Police station.
But when he started to get dizzy from all of the blows to his head and chest, he stopped the car, pulled out the keys from the ignition and threw it out of the car along with his cellphone.
De-Garson added that one of the bandits pulled him out of the car, while the armed criminal pointed the gun at his face and pulled the trigger, De-Garson closed his eyes and waited for death. But the weapon did not fire.
De-Garson said that while he lay on the roadside, the three men continued beating him with one shouting out, “You can’t live. You done see our faces. You have to dead!”
A blow to his head caused De-Garson to blackout and when he regained consciousness, he realised the three bandits and his car, were gone.
“I knew that it was through some divine intervention that I was alive and my children still had their father.”
“I made my way to the Barataria Police Station where I informed officers of what transpired. They in turn told me to go to the St Joseph Police Station to make an official report as the crime was committed within the jurisdiction of that police station,” De-Garson said.
De-Garson complied with the instruction and after making a report to the St Joseph police, he went home where he was met by his relieved relatives.
At 1 am yesterday, police received a report from residents in Trou Macaque who heard loud explosions and what sounded like a car crashing. Officers from the Besson Street police station visited and found De-Garson’s car crashed at the side of the Trou Macaque Road, Laventille. Inside the car, they found the 20-year-old slumped in the driver’s seat. He was barely alive and was unconscious. Officers realised he had been shot in the head.
The man was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was treated and warded under police guard.
Police sources say investigators have theorised that the shot man was involved in the hijacking of De-Garson and may have been shot after a falling out with the other car thieves.
De-Garson was contacted by police and later went to the Besson Street police station where he identified the car as being his. Blood splashes, from the shot bandit, stained the inside of the driver’s car door and car seat. Officers from the Besson Street CID are continuing investigations.
