Eccles fatal hit-and-run…Manhunt on for driver; mother taken into custody

Aug 14, 2015 News

An intense manhunt by ‘A’ Division police ranks was underway yesterday for the driver who reportedly fled from the scene of the crash which claimed the life of a 27-year-old woman late Wednesday night.
Latoya Thompson of Craig Village, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was the pillion rider of the motorcycle which collided with a white wagon that failed to stop at the traffic light at Eccles, EBD around 23:15 hours, police reported.
Her friend, Orwin Whittington, 35, a Bourda Market vendor, and resident of First Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, was the rider. Whittington is now nursing wounds at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The suspect, a 23-year-old Eccles, EBD resident is on the run and as police intensified their efforts to capture him, his mother, the registered owner of the vehicle, was taken into custody on suspicion that she knows the whereabouts of her son.
Kaieteur News understands that the woman’s phone records were checked which showed that merely minutes after Wednesday night’s collision, she had quite a lengthy conversation with someone – believed to be her son, as it was reportedly his number.
The records also showed that there was constant communication via the two phones since the accident. This has led ranks to believe that the mother knows exactly where the fugitive driver is hiding.
When Kaieteur News visited the suspect’s residence yesterday, the windows and doors were shut tight. The house appeared deserted and the business entity on the bottom flat was closed. Neighbours said they had not seen the man yesterday and had only seen the woman briefly.

Dead: Latoya Thompson

“It’s strange that he not around and that the shop close up. He usually drinks and drives wild though. If you see how he does go through this street,” they commented.
As the search continues, Whittington is still hospitalised. His relatives reported that he is in a stable condition though he suffered a broken shoulder. He also has a gash on his face and bruises about his body as testament of Wednesday’s accident.
Meanwhile, Thompson’s Facebook Page was flooded with messages from shocked friends who believe she was “gone too soon.”
As they poured their hearts out, some said the 27-year-old was a loving, supportive and kind-hearted person who always offered a shoulder in times of need and words of encouragement. “I miss you my friend,” and “Why so soon?” many of her social media friends wrote on her Timeline.
Investigations by Kaieteur News uncovered that just last month, two of the newspaper’s staffers riding on a motorbike had a close call after the same suspect crashed into them.
The two KN staffers were travelling on the street where he resides, when the man, in a haste to overtake another vehicle on the narrow road, crashed into them, knocking them over. But, like Wednesday, he kept driving.
The two staffers reported that the traffic that had built up on the Public Road as a result of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) games that day, forced the man to turn around.
They said it was then that the driver confronted them, demanding to know what they were “still doing on the road.”
During the ordeal, he reportedly pulled a knife on the two but calmed down after a security officer drew his gun.
After smelling alcohol on the man’s breath, a security man nearby, seized the keys out of his vehicle and told the driver that a report would be made at the Providence Police Station where he could retrieve his vehicle.
The KN staffers left and reported the matter to the station, where the man subsequently joined them, this time in the company of his mother who was furious that her son was taken into custody.
The man was released on bail and the staffers have not heard anything in relation to charges, until word reached them yesterday that he was being sought for Wednesday night’s fatal accident.
Whittington was riding his motorbike, heading south along the Eccles Public Road when the accident occurred. The driver reportedly drove out from a street on the eastern side and collided with Whittington and his companion, knocking them off the bike.
The two were picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where Thompson was pronounced dead on arrival.