Philipsburg:--- Relatives of Andrew Davis, a Vesuvius suspect that was held at the Simpson Bay Outpost, told SMN News in an exclusive interview that Davis was beaten and bitten at least 14 times by a police dog on Saturday afternoon when the Zero Tolerance Team showed up at the Simpson Bay Outpost to remove him from the location.
The two relatives who asked to remain anonymous said one of them received a phone call on Saturday afternoon from a prisoner informing them that a set of police were at the Simpson Bay Outpost to take Davis to an unknown location. According to the relatives, Davis told them later by phone that the police did not tell him where they were taking him and the only thing they told him is that they are moving him for his own safety. The women said that Davis refused to cooperate with the request of the police because he is in possession of a letter from the prosecutor's office which states that he is to be kept at the Simpson Bay Outpost until after the trial. The relatives said in February 2011 Davis was taken to the Netherlands while the investigation was ongoing and he was brought back to St. Maarten in August 2012. "When the police took Davis to the Netherlands they also told him it was for his own safety."
They said that Davis is the suspect that police dressed in an RST uniform and took to Omar Jones' house when they were conducting the search and Davis is one of the suspects who cooperated with the police throughout the investigation. "We believe that the police and prosecution are angry because Davis told the judge that the RST investigators dressed him up in an RST uniform and took him to search Omar Jones' house (another Vesuvius suspect's home)."
The relatives said that the police allowed Davis to call his attorney Cor Merx but the suspect could not reach Merx and that was one of the reasons he made contact with them so that they could find Merx and inform him of the situation. The relatives said several other prisoners told them that after a long discussion Davis decided to cooperate with the police but the police officers who were on the scene opened tear gas on him and began beating him. "Can you imagine when he was already on the ground that is when the police began kicking him and they let the dog on him, the police dog bit Davis on his leg at least 14 times. He was badly beaten and treated worse than an animal. We want to know why the police chose to remove Davis from the location just a few days before the judge renders his verdict." The Court of First Instance is supposed to render its verdict on November 15th, 2012. The relatives said Davis was seen by a doctor and he is now being kept at the Philipsburg Police Station after his lawyer Cor Merx intervened. The relatives said that Saturday was the second time the police tried to remove Davis from the Simpson Bay Police Outpost and holding center.
SMN News learnt that the orders to remove Davis from Simpson Bay Police Outpost came from the prison director Edward Rohan and the Prosecutor's office. The source said that in the beginning Davis was cooperating with the police but then he changed his mind and even threatened to kill the police officers because the other prisoners in the Simpson Bay lockups will help him to take out some lawmen. "Davis called the police himself and told them to come for him and when they come people will be killed."
Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos admitted that Davis was bitten a number of times by the police dog and he was indeed beaten by police because Davis resisted heavily when the police went to remove him from Simpson Bay on Saturday afternoon. Mos said that he was not aware that tear gas was used, but he is aware of the incident because the police already submitted their report to his office. Mos further explained that a large number of prisoners joined Davis causing a huge mess and they destroyed the Simpson Bay police outpost severely. Mos further indicated that if Davis had cooperated with the police he would not have been injured to the extent he is injured now and the Simpson Bay police outpost would not have been damaged to the extent it is. The island's Chief Prosecutor said that this is the second time in recent months prisoners that are held at the Simpson Bay police outpost and holding center chose to damage the facility.
