“I was bleeding so I run” – man recalls brutal attack on himself, cousin

Two cousins of Grove, East Bank of Demerara, and of Melanie, East Coast Demerara, were on Saturday evening brutally attacked, beaten, and chopped by a group of men at a bar in Grove, EBD. The incident reportedly stemmed from an old grievance.
The injured men are 23-year-old Randolph Persaud known as “Christopher” of Grove, East Bank Demerara, and Leon Archer, 23, of Melanie, East Coast Demerara.
Archer told Guyana Times on Tuesday that he and his cousin went to the bar at about 22:30h to purchase some liquor when they were attacked.
“We were by Chris drinking and then we left and went to a supermarket and we bought some stuff to drink and we headed back by Chris. We leave around 10:30 and head out to buy something else… while walking we reach a bar and we see our uncle… we decide to stay and drink with him… I was heading to the counter to buy the stuff and when I turned around, I saw this guy come in and lash Christopher in his face and Christopher dropped,” he explained.
Archer, in an attempt to defend his cousin, confronted the attacker but was met with further aggression.
“I ran out, but I didn’t have a weapon or anything. I went out to just ask him what is the problem really and why he lashed Christopher in his face. When I ran out, he lashed me in my head and I fall down. When I try to get up back, he lash me again and I fell again and he ran away. I get up and I tried running behind he,” he said.
Archer related that he was behind the suspect and as he turned around, he came face to face with him.
“All I see is the guy come out with a cutlass and he chopped me in my head. I tried to run and he kept chopping me. I put my hand up to bar and I try to kick the cutlass out of his hand and he kept chopping me. I ran and when I look, I see him and five other boys coming after me. I was bleeding so I run and, just in a lady’s yard,” Archer said.
“I started begging the lady to help me. I was laying at her door and I was bleeding out and I told her some boys trying to kill me, they chop me and she chased me and told me don’t bleed there. She told me to move from there. Shortly after I heard Christopher calling my name and I answered and he picked me up. I don’t know that boy [suspect] that attacked me. I went unconscious after that.”
Both injured men were rushed to Diamond Hospital, East Bank Demerara, for medical treatment.
Archer was treated for multiple chop wounds, while Persaud suffered a broken nose and lacerations around his body.
Persaud told this publication that the assailant had a grudge against him due to a relationship between one of his friends and the attacker’s ex-girlfriend.
“He [the suspect] see me does lime with the boy that take away his girl but he feels like we does be with the girl. For the past few months, he keep threatening me and telling me to stay away from the boy who had taken his girlfriend. But I don’t have a problem with the boy who take away his girl. He is always attacking me,” Persaud alleged.
“…when I go to the shop and I turn my back to buy my things, he sneaking up on me and pelting chops at me. If it wasn’t for my bag, I would have gotten a chop in my back. He is also sneaking up on me when I am going home and attacking me with a knife. He even hides in dark corners and when I am passing, he would hit me in my spine.”
Persaud said he believes the suspect might have followed him and his cousin when they were heading to the bar, and attacked them.
“I am scared for my life because I don’t know when he can come and sneak up on me and do me something again. If my uncle or cousin wasn’t there that night, I don’t know what more he would have done to me. We want justice on this matter,” Persaud said.
A report was made at the Grove Police Station. (G9)