(CMR) The family members of three arrested persons who are currently at the RCIPS Detention Centre are calling foul after a minor with down syndrome was peppered sprayed along with his mother and older brother at the West Bay Police Station earlier this afternoon. The police responded with an armed unit and additional cruiser which coincidentally CMR observed heading into West Bay via the Batabano entrance on the Harquail Bypass.
The incident occurred right around 4:15 pm when the 59-year-old mother drove her 16-year-old special-needs son to the station for some assistance from officers. She intended for them to assist her with some firm guidance and a warning to her son; but instead, the situation quickly escalated with him pulling a machete out of the car.
The eldest 24-year-old son had been called and at that point pulled into the police station as he was in the area. An eyewitness shared that the younger brother was observed waving a machete at the police station. However, his eldest brother was able to calm him down and disarmed him. He then placed the machete on the floor of the station. Despite that, police proceeded to pepper spray all three of them claiming that they felt threatened. The parties were all arrested and taken to the RCIPS Detention Centre in George Town.
Both the mother and eldest son suffer from asthma and the 16-year-old has both down syndrome and a known heart condition. They expressed concern that despite complaints that they could not breathe and had pre-existing issues those were ignored and the decision was made to pepper spray them.
It has since been over two hours and family members have not received any updates on the incident and wanted to highlight what they feel was a completely inappropriate and excessive use of force against their family members – one of which is extremely compromised.
The police have been contacted for a comment on this incident and the story will be updated once an official statement is received from them.
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