Uncle of 'tax evader' says he jumped in river out of fear of Police

By Devi Seitaram


The Uncle of the missing Mahaicony man who jumped into the river after being escorted into the Mahaicony police station on Monday said that his nephew may have jumped into the river to save his life after Police opened fire on him while running away from custody while The police Office of Professional Responsibilities have launched an investigation into the custody and handling of the prisoner in this incident.

The man’s uncle Wilbert Inniss speaking to this Newspaper said that his nephew was not suicidal and does not know how to swim. However, he is of the opinion that his nephew plunged into the murky water of the Mahaicony River to save his life from the police who fired at him.

Inniss said that he saw his nephew running towards “the Eastern side of the old bridge with Police calling for back up. “The first Police fire a shot and he asking the other one to bring the big gun.”
Inniss from his Mahaicony home via telephone related that early today his family and friends will form a search party at strategic points along the river to locate Maxwell or his body.

According to Inniss, he was in the courtroom still when he heard a shouting by a person saying “man over board,” followed by loud shots “I was with the magistrate and I heard a man shout man overboard. Then when I run out I see he jump in the river and he hold on on a boat then I jus see he head in the water while the Police still shoot at he,” the Uncle of the missing man related.

Inniss added that throughout the ruckus, the Magistrate yelled “don’t shoot the man.” The distressed man said his family still has hopes of Maxwell being alive but nevertheless has tried to locate Maxwell’s body throughout the day even though it was not an easy task. “The place has lots of obstacles, caz we use hook and thing but it jus catching on obstacles.”

Maxwell has two children, the youngest being 3 weeks old and his reputed wife Patryce Downer. Meanwhile his mother and a brother who is a doctor resides in Barbados are unable to come. Inniss said the man’s mother is “a pressure case and them don’t want she come before something else happen.”

According to Police investigations, at about 1050h yesterday Monday August 30, 2010, Godwin Maxwell, 30 years of Calcutta, Mahaicony, ECD, appeared before Magistrate Haymant Ramdhani at the Mahaicony Magistrate Court on charges of failing to submit tax returns.
He was placed on bail in the sum of $45,000.00 and was escorted by the police from the court room to the Enquiries Office of the Mahaicony Police Station, where he was placed to sit on the prisoner’s bench.

While in the Enquiries Office Godwin Maxwell ran out of the station in a bid to escape during which a shot was fired by the police. Efforts to locate Godwin Maxwell have so far been unsuccessful. The police Office of Professional Responsibilities have launched an investigation into the custody and handling of the prisoner in this incident.

taken from Guyana Times Aug 31 2010