St. Maarten Private Eye

St. Martin News Network

---- Investigation Intensifies----

Cole –Bay:- Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson has confirmed that a garbage collector working for Bunchie’s garage died from injuries he sustained when a car pinned him between the garbage truck and a private car. The victim has been identified as M.P 55-years of age from Santo Domingo.
The accident Henson said took place on Monday March 5th 2007 about 4 am on Union road Cole-Bay opposite the PBD building. The license plate of the vehicles he said is a private car 4233 ZZ 971 driven by G.L who has been questioned by police and released. While the garbage truck with license plate number Z-141 was in the process of collecting garbage when the accident occurred.

Henson explained that the car was traveling from the Port de Plaisance, while the truck he said was facing the same direction, the victim Henson said was standing at the back of the truck when he was slammed by the car.

The man was transported to the St. Maarten Medical Center for treatment as he was severely injured in both legs; he later succumbed to the injuries.
The police spokesman said that the Traffic Department is busy with the investigations to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein in an invited comment told SMN News that a Post Mortem will be conducted on the body of the victim to determine exact cause of death.
Stein said that so far in the investigation it has been proven that the driver who is a journalist at the Today Newspaper hit the truck from behind without braking. The Chief prosecutor said based on that alone it is sufficient to create suspiciousness of the driver, which may lead to prosecution. When asked if the necessary tests were conducted to see if the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol or drug use. Stein said that St. Maarten is not equipped to take blood samples without consent and as such these tests were not conducted. When asked if the driver of the car fell asleep on the wheel, the chief prosecutor said that can be a possibility but the investigation is still in its early stage and that has not yet been confirmed.
The driver of the car the Chief Prosecutor said has been questioned and released by police but the investigation he said is still ongoing and the man he said can be arrested the moment it is proven that a crime has been committed.

Suspected Negligence

SMN News has learnt that the ambulance department when called to respond to the scene of the accident was told by the caller that the victim suffered minor injuries. The source said that the ambulance department had received a call at the same time where someone who took ill in Oyster Pond where they choose to go to that scene before the scene of the accident.

The source further states that the ambulance arrived on the scene about half an hour after the accident occured and the victim they said lost a great amount of blood on the scene.

The reliable source further stated that not only did the ambulance was late but at the St. Maarten Medical Center where the victim was tranferred had some difficulty as it had to be accertained who will cover the medical expences of the medical institution. SMN New have learnt that the victim while at the hospital did not receive treatment until his boss produced his SVB card.

SMN News contacted the hospital Director Dr. Scot who became very arrogant when asked to verify the allegations. Scot said that he did not expect anyone to talk to the media and not him and that he does not believe the information received was accurate. Dr. Sprott said that anyone with such accusations will meet him in court as he was not intending to continue with bad reports from the media.

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