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A Cop Kills on Caye Caulker
posted (May 10, 2010)

In June of 2003 Ruben "Pony" Alarcon was killed in the Caye Caulker Police station; shot in the head by a policeman who claimed that Alarcon – who was detained – was advancing on him.

7 years later, we have an ugly repeat of history to report as yesterday evening another man was killed in the Caye Caulker station, except this time 31 year old Alex Goff was killed in his cell. Here's the story from Caye Caulker.

It all started here at the Lazy Lizard, the bar at the split. It is a gorgeous, picturesque location, but at around 5:30 in the evening, Alex Goff was involved an altercation and his friend Jimbo – with whom he had been drinking - tried to defuse it.

Kareem "Jimbo" Bowen, Friend of Alex Gough
"Look like somebody from, like you know Chaplain, must be tell the Police something about me and my lee bway. I told him, brother, 'Stop going on like that with me.' He wanted to fight with me and all. I told him, 'I would never disrespect you, G. Stop live like that with me.' And we roll and thing. The Police had already passed us and they turned back and came and pushed my lee bway, punched him in his face right in front of me. I told him, 'Big Man, you chanced my lee bway.'"

Voice of Eyewitness
"They only took the one young man and he was fighting back and resisting the officer from putting him on the cart. I couldn't hear what was being said because they were far away but one police officer then punched him. Then he started fighting back a lot more vigorously. And the police kept trying to restrain him on the cart. And at one point he jumped off the cart and they = both police officers - went back and put him back on the cart. And they drove off."

Kareem "Jimbo" Bowen, Friend of Alex Gough
"Afterwards, they told him, 'Watch what will happen to you when you reach the Station.'"

Those words would prove tragically prophetic. This is the account of another friend who saw them take him into the station.

Voice of Eyewitness
"What I saw, the police officer, right - which they said kill Alex - I stood up and I saw him take Alex by his hand, so he held Alex by his hand like this. So I said, 'Where are they going with Alex, now?' I already knew that it was in there they were going to lock him up because they don't have anywhere else to go. Within 15 minutes of that, you know? By the time I reached here, Alex dead."

Within 15 minutes, he had been shot dead.

Sgt. Leslie Wade, Caye Caulker Police
"The Police officer who was in charge of the relief at the time, P.C. #437 Alpheus Parham, he visited the cell block - as they said, Alex Gough was behaving in a disorderly manner - to try and calm him down. It was then the diarist outside heard a loud bang. Immediately, he said Parham exited the cell block area, handed over a .38 revolver along with 5 live rounds and he left the Police Station. The diarist, P.C. Federico Tush went inside the cell block where he saw the said Goff in a sitting position and he had what appears to be a gunshot wound to the forehead and it was bleeding."

Goff was dead, killed in the cell for no known reason; it has all appearances of an execution his friends say.

Gilbert Diaz, Friend of Alex Gough "Why would you open my cell and just shoot me in the head in a police holding cell? It's crazy! No matter what I do, no matter what crime I do, I could do any crime, there is no right for a police officer to come into my holding cell and just shoot me in the head. It's totally taking advantage of the child's life."

Dan Man, Friend of Alex Gough
"These police in Caye Caulker drink a lot. And all of them bear guns. And I think that is one thing the residents of Caye Caulker should look into -- drunken policemen who are not themselves when on duty. And I think it was a drunken police, off duty too, who did such an act. And if it wasn't him, then why did he flee immediately?"

Voice of Eyewitness
"Drunken cops killed a handicapped man. He is not really handicapped because he is not disabled....You know there is no way Alex could really fight back. I am not saying that if you knock me, I won't knock you back, but there is nothing that he could do to this officer that would lead to this."

Indeed he did have a disability – the result of another violent incident.

Kareem "Jimbo" Bowen, Friend of Alex Gough
"The other day, they chopped this man in his head. This man, like he can't talk because he has a deep chop wound in his head. A young bway from Carmelita. He is disabled. I don't know why they chanced this young bway out of his life. This man already reached the Station already and he is already paralysed already. Why the policemen at Caye Caulker take advantage?"

Sister of Alex Goff
"What they are doing is wrong. People's lives are valuable. They just can't go around doing the things that they are doing and the families are supposed to sit back and let it happen.

But will the police sit back – and again drag their feet on bringing charges?

Sgt. Leslie Wade, Caye Caulker Police
"Definitely the file will be sent to the DPP for further instructions and I beleive, thereafter, whatever charges will be levied, will be levied."

And while Caye Caulker waits as the file is at the DPP, what were once isolated events are becoming indicative of a worrying trend where police seem to be doing as they were told on April first.

Crispin Jeffries, Commissioner of Police, April 1, 2010
"We will have to speak to people in the court system thereafter, because they will be shot and killed when they are caught. There is no doubt in my mind that if they can operate this way with impunity, we will have to respond in similar manner."

P.C. # 437 Alpheus Parham walked out of the police station after handing over his weapon and was not arrested until this morning. Late news from police is that he has been charged for murder.

After the killing an angry crowd gathered outside the Caye Caulker Police station – demanding to see the body. They stayed out there for hours, but Police waited them out and reportedly moved the body after 1:30 am.

This is the fourth person to be killed by police since February fifteenth.

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