Corentyne labourer remanded after admitting to assaulting cop

A 36-year-old Corentyne labourer has been remanded to prison after admitting to offences involving a police officer while denying several charges involving another, following a confrontation during a traffic enforcement exercise that allegedly left a policeman injured and police equipment damaged.

Withney Harvey, of Number 51 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), appeared before Magistrate Tuanna Hardy at the Whim Magistrate’s Court on Friday, where he faced 11 charges arising from the incident.
The charges include two counts each of assault causing actual bodily harm, assaulting a peace officer, resisting a peace officer and obstructing a peace officer, along with single counts of damage to property and disorderly behaviour.
During the proceedings, Harvey pleaded guilty to the charges involving a police lance corporal but denied those relating to a police sergeant. He also pleaded not guilty to damaging property belonging to the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
His plea to the separate disorderly behaviour charge was not specified in the police report. Following his guilty pleas, Harvey was remanded to prison pending sentencing on October 28. The charges to which he pleaded not guilty remain before the court.
The charges stem from an incident on October 20, at approximately 08:05h, along the public road at Number 51 Village, Corentyne, where police ranks were conducting a traffic enforcement exercise.
In an earlier statement, police reported that the confrontation began after ranks stopped a motorcyclist who was travelling east along the public road with his face covered by a mask while wearing a safety helmet.
According to investigators, the motorcyclist allegedly became disorderly after being stopped, dismounted his motorcycle and produced a cutlass. He reportedly used obscene language and challenged the officers, telling them they could take his motorcycle and leave.
The situation reportedly escalated when another man, who was standing nearby with a knife tucked into his waist, intervened and claimed that the motorcyclist was a relative. Police alleged that the second man told the ranks they could do nothing to the motorcyclist. The officers reportedly instructed him to remove and surrender the knife, but he allegedly refused to comply.
With assistance from members of the public, the man was eventually subdued and the knife confiscated. However, according to the police’s account, the confrontation intensified when the man allegedly began throwing bottles, bricks, pieces of wood and other objects at the ranks, forcing them to take evasive action.
He subsequently fled the scene but reportedly returned armed with a cutlass and other objects, continuing to threaten the officers and hurl missiles in their direction.
During the confrontation, a police motorcycle was allegedly damaged after the man used a cutlass to chop its front and rear wheels.
Police further alleged that a Government-issued Taser was forcibly taken from a sergeant and thrown to the ground, damaging the device.
The sergeant reportedly sustained injuries to his face and index finger during the incident, while his eyeglasses, valued at $85,000, were also damaged.
The confrontation also resulted in damage to the windshield of a motor vehicle and a rear-view mirror associated with the Crabwood Creek Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC). Harvey, who was arrested on October 21 and charged two days later, remains in custody pending sentencing on October 28. The charges to which he pleaded not guilty remain before the court.