On Thursday night, Police Benevolent Association president Elroy Raymo announced a press conference for Friday afternoon to discuss, among other matters, the disciplinary hearing conducted Thursday for a police officer accused of assaulting a citizen on St. John in March.
On Friday afternoon at the appointed time and place, Raymo was nowhere to be found.
Reporters appearing at Zone A Command in the Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex for the session were told by the desk officer that a telephone call to Raymo's home was answered by his mother, who said he was in bed with a toothache.
It was like pulling teeth trying to get information about the disciplinary hearing from other sources Friday afternoon. Police Chief Jose Garcia declined comment on the outcome of the lengthy proceedings, held in his office on St. Thomas Thursday. He would say only that the next step in the hearing process is up to the PBA. He cited several grievance options available to the police union.
According to knowledgeable sources, about nine witnesses appeared at the hearing. Garcia said Friday that he was bound by the police union contract to disclose nothing about the findings. "I don't want to comment until all avenues of the contract have been satisfied," he said.
He would not say whether the hearing was completed Thursday. He also refused to confirm the identity the officer who was under investigation in the case referred to the chief by Cruz Bay's Zone D commander, Lt. Rene Garcia.
The case being heard by Garcia stemmed from a March 18 incident where an off-duty policeman, identified in press reports as Eugene Somersall, is alleged to have assaulted Kelly Giggenbach, an employee of Caribbean Villas, after stepping into a dispute between the woman and taxi drivers over a parking space near the Cruz Bay ferry dock. Witnesses said the officer grabbed Giggenbach by the breast and slammed her repeatedly against a car.
Police officials had announced that a second officer was also implicated in the case and was also under investigation. It was not clear whether Thursday's hearing was for both officers, or just the one accused of assaulting the woman. Giggenbach was among those who testified.
FBI officials have said the federal agency is also investigating the incident from the perspective of whether the officer violated the woman's civil rights.
