Armed robbery suspect sets fire to Brickdam Police Station lock-ups

– claims he lit toilet paper to ward off mosquitoes

A prisoner who was detained for armed robbery is now expected to be charged with arson as he reportedly set a mattress on fire while being in custody at the Brickdam Police Station.
The incident occurred on Sunday at approximately 6:50h, according to reliable sources. Swift action by on-duty Police officers led to the prompt extinguishing of the fire.
The suspect, identified as Stephan Howard, a 22-year-old vendor from East La Penitence, Georgetown, was arrested on Saturday and is due to make his court appearance today.
Guyana Times understands that a Constable on duty heard prisoners raising an alarm about the fire and upon checking, observed smoke emanating from one of the cells – the very cell where Howard was being held.
The Constable immediately removed Howard from the cell, and discovered that two mattresses had been partially burnt.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was alerted, but by the time firefighters arrived at the scene, the fire had already been extinguished. Following the incident, Howard complained of feeling unwell and was subsequently transported under Police guard to the Georgetown Public Hospital for medical attention.

At the time of the incident, six other prisoners were being held in custody at the lock-ups.

Fire incident at Brickdam Police Station
The Police in a release late on Sunday stated that the prisoner was questioned during which he told ranks that upon entering the lock-ups, he discovered a lighter and a piece of toilet paper inside of the cell, and due to mosquitoes biting him, he lit the piece of toilet paper around 06:40h on Sunday and placed same on the cell door.
He added that about 10 minutes later, he realised that the toilet paper had fallen on the mattress on the floor of the cell, and the mattress ignited into flames, which he successfully extinguished by throwing water from a plastic bottle he had.
“Howard then shouted out during the interview, stating that the Police should do what they had to do since he had nothing more to say. An ‘entry’ was made in the Station Diary to this effect. He also refused to put his story in writing and also refused to go on a video interview,” the Police stated.
A similar incident occurred in October 2021, causing the Brickdam Police Station to be completely destroyed by a fire, which was allegedly started by a prisoner in the lock-ups.
It was reported that after starting the fire, the prisoner, 28-year-old Clarence Greene, a robbery suspect, raised an alarm, and other inmates were evacuated from the lock-ups.
He was escorted to the Sparendaam Police Station, then to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Major Crimes Unit, where he confessed to the crime and was later charged.