More claims of police brutality were lodged against the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) Wednesday after a 31-year-old man claimed the tables were turned on him when he tried to make a complaint to police.
Kevin Moss said what was supposed to have been a fun night out with his girlfriend Tuesday turned ugly because they got into a violent altercation and also because the patrol cops he flagged down to complain to reportedly turned on him.
The Journal visited Mr. Moss at his Acklins Street home on Wednesday where his bruised and battered body lay motionless in a bed and his blood soaked clothes and shoes lie at his feet.
Mr. Moss said he and his girlfriend were out at a club having a good time when she reportedly “snapped.”
“When the time came for us to go home she asked me to carry her home and we were playing around,” he said. “She asked to hop on my back but I couldn’t carry her and she fell down.
“We were laughing but she got embarrassed because people were there and she was already drinking. So she burst me in my head with a bottle.”
He added that he left the establishment after that incident and a few male patrons who had seen what happened and who assumed he was causing problems, tried to attack him with a baseball bat and a cutlass.
Mr. Moss said this is when a patrol car passed and in a bid to avoid problems he stopped the police to lodge a complaint.
“They cuffed me, threw me in the back of the car and took me to the Wulff Road Station,” he said. “They were telling me I was drunk but I told them I wasn’t. I was bleeding, I was hurting, I stopped them to help me and they wouldn’t listen.
“Even though she’s a woman they could’ve looked at her and seen that nothing was wrong with her. I never put my hands on her. I’ve never touched her.”
The bruised man said he was then taken to the Wulff Road Police Station, placed in a cell, beaten by officers and then dropped home at 3:00 a.m.
Mr. Moss’ mother Pauline Collie said she was horrified when she got home to find her son lying in a pool of blood and blacked out.
“They beat my child,” Ms. Collie said. “Someone beat him. You can see the blood. You can see he was in custody because there are no laces in his shoes. No belt in his pants, that’s what they do when they take you in custody.”
“They are lying to me. They dropped him here in the patrol car and didn’t even check.”
She said she wants to know if her son was injured and why the police officers did not take him to the hospital for treatment.
Ms. Collie said she will make a formal complaint to Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade.
The victim’s uncle Bradley Collie also expressed outrage over the incident.
“Right now he is suffering from head injuries, he’s hallucinating, he’s delirious, how come he’s not at the Accident and Emergency at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH),” he asked.
“Whatever cover up there is, they are doomed, be prepared. I am Bradley Collie; I will get to the bottom of it. This is beyond what we call police brutality.”
The family said they questioned officers at the Wulff Road Police Station but was told Kevin Moss was never there.
Mr. Moss was taken to PMH just after noon Wednesday.
Meantime, police refused an interview noting that they do not want to prejudice the case.
However, sources at the station reported that Mr. Moss was brought in to the station early Wednesday morning with injuries to the head but refused medical attention.
They also noted that when anyone is taken in to a station it does not mean that the arresting officers are officers from that particular station.