(CMR) A policeman who lost his job after he suffered injuries in an accident during a drug operation, that involved two police boats chasing a Jamaican canoe in 2021, has filed a lawsuit against the Commissioner of Police and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS).
Pedro Echenique (64) was injured when the police boat he was on exited the water and landed more on the port side, causing everyone onboard to bounce up and down very hard. He was hurt and had to be removed from the boat and transported back to shore, where he was taken to hospital for treatment.
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Echenique has suffered various personal injuries as a result of this accident and has suffered, amongst other things, a compression fracture of the T12 vertebral body and after clinical examination shows stiffness in his thoracolumbar spine and a secondary scoliosis and a slight increase of the kyphosis at the C7-Tl region.
According to the lawsuit, Echenique has since been terminated from the RCIPS and was not offered any alternative employment. As a result, he lost the opportunity to receive various employment benefits.
Echenique, who worked with the RCIPS for over 14 years, is suing for medical expenses, loss of income from the date of termination to retirement age, loss of future income, loss of health insurance, loss of pension contributions, and any consequential loss.
According to the court document filed on 1 March 2024, Echenique believes the accident occurred as a result of the negligence of the Commissioner and the RCIPS, its servants, or agents, as the vessel had not been commissioned, it did not have the requisite equipment on board and was driven in a manner and standard that was unreasonable, dangerous and thus unsafe.
The drug operation on 3 March 2021 involved the Joint Marine Unit/Cayman Islands Coast Guard with two boats deployed: a 27-foot police patrol vessel, MV Trident, and the 38-foot M/V Niven-D. There were four officers onboard the patrol vessel MV Trident, including Echenique.
The court document stated that Echenique was sitting in the front seat on the port side of that vessel, which was captained by PC John Andrews, a servant and agent of the 1st and 2nd Defendants.
There was also a Police helicopter, X-ray 1, involved in this operation and chase, which, once off the ground, announced over the radio that it had spotted the suspect vessel, which resembled a Jamaican canoe, and that they could see that the crew on that boat had started to throw several packages overboard, and it then turned and started to proceed in a southeast direction towards Jamaica at a very high rate of speed.
This information was reportedly transmitted by radio back to the command center, and Chief Inspector Sean Bryan replied over the radio to let the men on the Jamaican canoe go but to recover the packages that were dumped overboard.
The helicopter pilot then stated that the Jamaican canoe was slowing down due to the rough weather conditions. Lieutenant Commander Anglin then instructed both vessels, the Trident and the Niven D, to make the best speed and to intercept the suspect vessel.
Both vessels proceeded to intercept the suspect vessel. The sea was rough, with wave heights of about 6 to 8 feet, which, together with the speed, caused the patrol vessels to bounce around a lot on the waves and jump out of the water. Echenique told the Boat Captain that this was not a life and death situation, so what was the need for the boat to continue this pursuit at such a high rate of speed if CI Bryan had already said to let them go? Echenique stated that they should slow down.
During the chase to intercept the fleeing vessel, MV Trident exited the water and landed more on the port side, which caused everyone onboard to bounce up and down very hard. This impact was so hard that Echenique suffered an injury to his back and cried out in pain that his back was injured and that they must stop the vessel. This information was relayed over the radio to the command center.
The Captain of MV Trident then contacted the MV Niven-D to come alongside MV Trident so that the Plaintiff could be taken off that boat so that they could transport him to the Frank Sound Dock, where medical assistance would be waiting to transport him to George Town Hospital. Lt Commander Anglin instructed MV Trident to resume the chase of the canoe vessel.
The fleeing vessel was intercepted by MV Trident about 25 miles southeast of the Cayman Islands with 4 Jamaican nationals onboard. Just as the fleeing vessel was intercepted, the MV Trident lost all engine power, and it also started to take on water from what appeared to be a missing hatch that was located on the vessel transom that appeared to have come loose during the chase.
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