CLAREMONT, St. Ann:IRATE RESIDENTS of Coultart Grove, St. Ann, stoned a police station, smashed street lamps and blocked several roads in the area on Wednesday following reports that policemen from the Claremont station had beaten a Rastafarian man.
Police reports are that Samar Brown, 21, a jobless Rastafarian, went to the Claremont Police Station about 2:30 p.m. and asked for Det. Cpl. Donald English, claiming that the policeman wanted to trim his locks.
There was a row between Brown and the police. Brown was alleged to have used expletives and the police allegedly beat him with a baton, injuring his mouth, nose and shoulder, while trying to arrest him.
Brown was taken to the St. Ann's Bay Hospital where he was treated and released.
Some Coultart Grove residents who were at the station during the altercation became angry. They used old water drums and stones to block the road near to the old Public Works Department building, Tank Street and Barrett Hall Road. They stoned the police station, forcing the police to take cover.
They smashed the glass windows at the police barracks as well as nearby street lamps. A car belonging to District Constable "Lukie" Somers was also damaged.
Deputy Supt. Ronald Anderson, with assistance of police from St. Ann's Bay, restored calm to the area near 9 p.m.
Police from the Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating the incident.
