‘Hit-and run’ on Sheriff Street…Family members, friends picket delay in apprehending ‘killer’

Dec 02, 2015 News

With placards bearing slogans including one that read “Help me find my killer” and “Come out killer”, close friends and relatives of the late Travis Bollers took to Square of the Revolution in picketing mode yesterday.

The picketing exercise in session yesterday.

The group’s aim was to vent frustration over the perceived delay in bringing to justice the driver behind the wheels of a speeding Toyota Tacoma truck who reportedly struck Bollers off of his motorcycle as he navigated the junction at Pike and Sheriff Streets.
The accident occurred around 23:30 hours on Thursday November 26, last.
Reports are that the driver of the truck did not render assistance to the 17-year-old and fled the scene of the accident. This was witnessed by a number of persons including Bollers’s pillion rider, one of his cousins, who fortunately sustained a few scratches.
But Bollers, who was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, sustained head injuries. He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) by a passing motorist. He died during the wee hours of the following day.
Police have ever since been trying to locate the driver of the truck and are believed to be working on some incredible information.
The pickets however disclosed yesterday that there are some people who are familiar with the driver of the truck but have not been willing to share this information with the police.
Among those who spoke with media operatives was Bollers’s uncle, Jermaine Wilson. He in sharing his knowledge of what transpired on the night of the accident said that his nephew was heading to his 40 Princes Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown home when he was struck down. “This man ain’t make no effort to assist him to carry him to the hospital; it was like if he knock down a dog. Travis is not a dog,” said an emotional Wilson.
“Whether Travis was wrong or right…he could have at least take him to the hospital,” lamented Wilson who further noted that even an apology would have meant a great deal to his family.
According to the man, the family has been privy to information on the driver of the truck involved in the accident “but we don’t want to put ignorance in front; we want the police do their job…we’s ghetto youths; nobody perfect here but we waiting for justice. People see and know what happen but people frighten to talk because you know how this country running…people talking to we but they don’t want talk to the police.”
Wilson yesterday appealed to the driver of the truck to surrender to the authorities.
Debbie Rodrigues, of Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, the dead youth’s aunt, recounted yesterday that when she learned about the accident she’d already retired to her bed.
But the account of the accident, she related, was not merely based on the reports of the cousin with whom Bollers was with at the time of the accident. According to Rodrigues, “Two eyewitnesses said that they (Bollers and his cousin) were riding in front of a (nearby) taxi service when this vehicle came from the back of them and hit them.
When he (the driver) came out the vehicle and saw the child on the road…he just watched him and drove away; like he’s not human.”
The woman also expressed disappointment that no one from the taxi service was compassionate enough to render assistance to her bleeding nephew who was left sprawled on the thoroughfare. “It was a lady heading up to the East Coast who stopped and rendered assistance,” she recollected.
Turning her attention to yesterday’s picketing exercise, Rodrigues said, “We are out here for some kind of justice, to find the killer at least. We are calling on the authorities to find the killer.”
She is optimistic that the police force will get the job done. “They are doing a great job, we know, but we are out here to let other people know what’s going on…There are other people who are involved in hit and run (accidents) and the killers are never found but we are sure this killer will be found…Wherever he runs he will be found. We have to get justice… we have a great Police Force and a great Government.”
Bollers was the last of four children and resided with his mother, Delores Rodrigues. Richard Bollers, the dead youth’s father, resides overseas and is expected to arrive shortly for his son’s funeral service.