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Suspected “Cop Killer” for court, Monday – Police
Investigators say that they have positively identified one of the persons responsible for the shooting to death of police corporal Romain Cleto. According to investigators the case against the suspect grew intensely stronger over the last days. Charges are expected to be laid on Monday. The suspect who hails from East Ruimveldt Housing Scheme had gone to the police when he learnt that he was among the suspects. The police released him soon after because there was no evidence to hold him.
Dead: Romain Cleto
However the suspect was rearrested on Thursday. Investigators have said that CCTV cameras along with an eyewitness have placed the suspect at the scene. More importantly, sources told this publication that the suspect has since given the police a confession about the shooting.
But relatives who were at the Criminal Investigation Department last evening maintained that the suspect has been targeted by the police for some time. According to one relative, the suspect is normally “picked up” by the police and held for 72 hours without charge.
The relative maintains that when the shooting happened, the suspect was at a bar drinking. The relative explained that it was the suspect who first went to the police station after his name was called. “He went to the station to clear his name and ended up in this,” the relative told Kaieteur News.
Cleto was gunned down by the occupants of a suspicious car at the busy intersection of Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic, in the full view of persons waiting for transportation.
The cop was approaching the vehicle on foot when one of the occupants opened fire with what is believed to be an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm handgun. Corporal Cleto was buried with full military honours.
Initial reports had stated that the vehicle was a white car. Yesterday, the police seized a white Toyota Ist which was at the scene. The Ist was said to have been driven by the suspect in custody.
But relatives of the man claimed that he was at a Beer Garden all day, and they say that they have people to support their contention. They said that when he reported to the police it was the very car that he drove to the police station.
Last night the relatives said that they got word that the man in custody was beaten. The police have denied this allegation. They said that they have viewed the cameras installed on the streets to trace the route followed by the Toyota Ist after the shooting.
A few days after Cleto’s death, Attorney at Law Gordon Gilhuys accompanied an Albouystown man, who police had indicated some interest in, to the Brickdam Police Station. That man and another suspect were subsequently released.
Last night Gilhuys was again retained as the Counsel for the man in custody. He was supposed to have met his client at Eve Leary.
(By Latoya Giles)
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