Alpha Hotel Drug bust… Police had no motive to kill my father – son claims dad had surrendered

Jul 11, 2016 News

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The son on 52-year-old Alvin Joseph says that police had no reason to kill his father.

Joseph, a licensed firearm holder, was shot dead last Thursday, after police stormed the Alpha Hotel at Ogle, East Coast Demerara following information that a big drug deal was going down between individuals in the hotel.

The police said that they recovered five kilogrammes of cocaine and a firearm. They reportedly also impounded a car.

But Joseph’s son, Damien Tim, claimed that police shot and killed his father even after he surrendered.

He said that his father was not involved in any illegal activities as claimed by police and media reports.

“Money is not a problem (for him). Is not like he (Joseph) see this money and he going and kill these people.”

Tim learnt that his father was killed after reading an online article.

He told Kaieteur News that he saw two photos of his father after the shooting but was still in disbelief.

“I seh this can’t be my father cause he don’t deh in them stupidness. So me aint even bother tell me mother anything.”

However, Tim realized that something was amiss after he placed several calls to his father’s mobile phones and got no response. He said that he called his father’s employer who relayed to him that his father was shot dead by police during a confrontation in a robbery.

Tim said that he has been receiving conflicting information from the police officers at CID Headquarters,  Eve Leary, Georgetown about what transpired.

“This is the thing that got me upset. Three different police gave me three different stories.”

He said that a policeman attached to the Narcotics Branch told him that his father ran through the hotel gate after police arrived at the hotel and “ran up the road.”

The officer, he said, related to him that his father them scaled a fence and hid himself in a clump of bushes before opening fire at an officer who was hot in his pursuit.

“This is what this man tell me. And when the police officer come fuh jump the fence he (Joseph) fired a shot at the police officer and the police shot him (Joseph) back.”

He said that another version of the story told to him by a cop is that his father shot a police officer who was working undercover after the cop revealed his identity.

Tim said that the officer told him that his father shot at the cop as he was about to break up the drug transaction.

Another officer, he stated, told him that police ranks were acting on a tip off when they went to the hotel. “He gon tell me that how them (the police) get a tip off about the deal going down and went to the hotel. And when my father see them he start running and opening fire and they (the police) open fire back at him.”

The son said that his father has respect for law enforcement officers since some of his relatives are in the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

However, Tim related that he has since received a credible version of how his father met his demise.

The eyewitness, he said, told him that his father was in the hotel compound and not in a hotel room when the police arrived.

According to the eyewitness, Joseph began walking out of the hotel compound and up the road when he spotted the cops.

Tim said that the eyewitness told him that his father surrendered when he saw a party of police and even began conversing with one of policemen (name provided).

Tim added that the eyewitness informed him that after his father surrendered the same police he was talking with asked “what is happen to yall really”, and shot him.

Tim recalled that about four men came to his father’s North Ruimveldt, Georgetown home and picked him up with a vehicle on the day in question. However, he said that he has no clue of where his father was going.

According to the son, Joseph worked for a mining company in Bartica and would frequently visit the capital city to sell gold or to buy spare parts for motor vehicles.

Joseph is survived by five children.

Kaieteur News had previously reported that Alvin Joseph was shot in the stomach by police following a drug bust at the hotel and had died while being transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

The drama reportedly began after police received information that a major drug deal between numerous persons was taking place at the hotel.

A police release issued yesterday stated that about 16.40hrs on Thursday, the police, acting on information that a large scale drug transaction was being conducted at a hotel at Ogle, ECD, went to the hotel to investigate and as they were approaching the suspects with a view to arresting them, they came under fire.

“The police then returned fire during which suspect, Nigel Joseph, 52, of North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was fatally shot.

According to reports, when ranks of the Police Narcotics Branch arrived, they saw Nigel Joseph, running in a southerly direction in the hotel parking lot.

It is alleged that Joseph ignored orders to halt, and instead discharged three rounds at the ranks.

The police returned fire, shooting Joseph, who later succumbed. In addition to the cocaine and the pistol, 14 rounds of ammunition and a car were impounded.

Those detained include a 46-year-old driver from Alexander Village; a 16-year-old boy who is employed as a hotel cleaner, a 56-year-old cook and a 30-year-old South Ruimveldt resident.

One suspect reportedly fled the scene.

Police said that they recovered 5.5 kilograms of cocaine and a Smith and Wesson 9mm firearm.

Kaieteur News understands that the weapon was licensed to a business establishment at First Avenue, Bartica. Sources said that the alleged shooter also had a permit to carry a firearm.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that the Police Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is investigating the shooting.

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