(CMR) Levar Wood (25) has been arrested for killing “his best friend” Giovani J. Berry (27) in Sunday's early morning fatal accident.
Police laid out their version of events in an official press release stating that the incident started at around 12:20 on Sunday morning in the vicinity of the Bodden Town police station. Officers were said to have observed the vehicle, a dark-colored car, speeding and driving erratically whilst overtaking three vehicles.
He then lost control of the vehicle and hit one of the cars he was overtaking, a white Audi in the vicinity of Belford Estate.
“Officers soon arrived at the location of the collision and came alongside the driver of the vehicle who had managed to regain control of the vehicle, instructing him to stop.”
RCIPS official statement
However, he failed to stop and the pursuit continued. He later lost control of the car again and he collided with a wall in the vicinity of Doubloon Drive, Northward.
His friend was seriously injured and eventually passed away from his injuries yesterday evening. CMR understands that Wood has minor injuries and was able to leave the hospital soon after with merely a neck brace on. He was arrested at the hospital on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and other traffic-related offenses. The man remains in custody pending a further police investigation.
The RCIPS has used careful language in their official statement and avoided the term “police chase”. However, several persons in the community have reached out to CMR stating that the police should not have chased him but instead taken steps to obtain an ID of the vehicle.
Berry celebrated his birthday in July and Wood celebrated his in early August. Wood is married with a young daughter and is a pilot. Speculation is he may have been afraid of losing his pilot's license if found to be under the influence. We understand Wood is also the son of a police officer who drives the governor.
UPDATE: He appeared in court on Monday, September 3, 2019, and was granted bail and is no longer in police custody.
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