Accident victims accuse police of dragging foot on charging drivers

Mar 25, 2012 News

Victims of last Saturday’s accident in the vicinity of Rupert Craig Highway,

Food vendor Orian Ossorio and her son who were injured

East Coast Demerara, that left millions of dollars in damage behind are calling on the Police and relevant authorities to charge the drivers who caused the accident and so give justice to the affected parties.
The accident occurred between 22:30hrs to 23:00 hrs after two cars were racing on the public road; one of the cars clipped PHH 2378 which lost control and crashed into another vehicle which further damaged another parked car.
Injured in the accident were a fast food vendor Orian Ossorio and her 17-year-old son Lorenzo Jamez, while the driver of PHH 2378, Shane Hailey, was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
According to one of the accident victims, Odessa Wills, she was on the seawall in the vicinity of Rupert Craig Highway on Saturday night purchasing a burger while talking to a friend.
Willis explained that she noticed two vehicles racing up and down the road. When the cars were returning while racing, PHH 2378 lost control and slammed into a caravan GFF-8967 and in turn the caravan smashed into her vehicle PNN 7144.
The distraught woman explained that the caravan was “write off” and totally damaged, while the rear fender of her car was severely damaged.
“When the body workman check up the amount it’s almost $550,000 and the police were even reluctant to take statement. Can you believe that?”
She added that there is some amount of corruption in the matter since “I saw with my own eyes what happened between the police and them that night…Then when the police turn up they say them ain’t got any breathalyzer to test the drunk driver.”
She said that yesterday when she visited the Kitty Police Station she was told by the police that “they cannot do anything now and that they are waiting.” Wills said she then questioned the police as to the reasons behind the waiting and stalling and the lack of charges against the guilty drivers. The police did not have any proper answers to her questions, she said.
The driver of the caravan, Austen Dinally, said that he was sitting in the driver seat of the parked vehicle while a woman was waiting in the passenger seat for her 17-year-old son to enter the vehicle.
“All I hear is blam, blam. When I exited my vehicle I see a Toyota Starlet (car) on my right hand side facing west; they were heading east and when the car slammed into my vehicle it spin around. It was clear that they were drag racing and were under the influence of alcohol…My whole bus write off!” the man emphatically said.
The woman in the vehicle was injured along with her 17-year-old son. Dinally said that their injuries were not critical but his bus was damaged along with the woman’s burger grill and other valuables.
According to Orian Ossorio, the fast food vendor who was also injured, she and her son were injured in the accident. When they visited the police station it appeared as if the police were unwilling to take a proper statement.
“They take my name and my son name and age in a little diary and that was it. I had to explain to another police rank that I had losses in the accident and that the next day I was going to the traffic department. Is only then they agree to take my statement,” Ossorio explained.
“The grill I had alone is $150,000 and all my other valuable will run it up to over $300, 000.”
Collectively, the injured victims are asking the police to make sure that justice is served accordingly since their lives had been upset because of careless drunken drivers.
“Every single day they always racing. One of them involved in the accident is the son of an auto sales dealer on the East Coast.”