Last night, we told you about the abrupt end in the attempt murder case against Stephon Anderson. The DPP's Office entered a "nolle pros" against him yesterday, which means that they dropped all charges against him, for now.
The cops brought the charge against Anderson because they say that he was the gunman who shot Andrew Augustine back in February 2014. But, he was freed because the Augustine took the witness stand in the Supreme Court yesterday and requested that the case be dropped. He said he forgave the alleged shooter.
As we told you, Back in February 2014, police picked up Augustine on suspicion of weed possession, but they later let him go without any charge.
That should have been the end of the story, but the issue was that instead of releasing him somewhere safe, they took him to the heart of gang territory on Flamboyant Street in the Lake Independence area.
Our court reports were that they did this because they were attempting to force a confrontation between him and possible enemies on that street. Well, Augustine came by our office today to correct that himself. He says that he is no gangster, and has no enemies or any turf. Augustine is a working man and he says the only thing he did wrong that night was to go out and buy marijuana, in a time before the Government decriminalized the possession of 10 grams. He recounted the incident and the lengths that the police went to deliberately put him in harm's way:
Andrew Augustine - Shooting Victim
"There are no areas in Belize - which is my country - that I consider enemy turf because I'm no such part of any gang. I am not of any such entity. So, from that time, until now, I've never referred to anywhere as enemy turf. So, the fact that the news said that last night it kinda leaves an impression to the public that I-"
Reporter
"That you're a gang member."
Andrew Augustine
"Yes, sir. So, that was just the only piece that I didn't appreciate."
Reporter
"So, explain to us what happened that evening."
Andrew Augustine
"It was a night actually, not an evening. It was very dark and the entire Lake I, starting from the stoplight on Mahogany until the end of the football field at Charles Barlett Hyde Building, this entire area was very troubled at the time because there are like 2 gangs that lie in that vicinity, and they were shooting at each other and warring. That night, unfortunately, I left my home to go purchase marijuana."
"A police car was coming behind me. It was a pickup, a Dodge Ram pickup. It wasn't exactly a police car that they were using."
"They reached behind me and confronted me, and they search me while looking around on the ground, and they found the marijuana. And what they did, they told me to tell them where I bought it, or else I would go to jail. They probably believed that I don't know the law and that I could just plead guilty and pay a fine. That's what they assumed, and so they were trying to intimidate me."
"I laughed at them and said that I could just plead guilty and pay a fine. And they were like, Oh, so you think you're smart. I know exactly what I will do with you. And what they did, they put me in the back along with my bike, and they started driving."
"And when I rose from the back of the pan, I saw where I was. There was on Flamboyant Street, all the way to the back, near this basketball court. That's actually the heart of the PIV turf, where the gang members are actually concentrated. They told me to get out, to jump out now. I didn't think or had any second thoughts on getting out because there is nowhere that I feel I am in danger."
"And 2 minutes, approximately 2 minutes or less, I left from Flamboyant Street, as I hit Jasmine Street, there was someone already approaching on a bicycle with a cap, and I was shot."
Reporter
"So, why do you think this person shot you?"
Andrew Augustine
"Probably because I was wearing a blue shirt, number 1, and I think that it could have been anyone in that area that night, and they would have probably been robbed or shot. The area is very troubled and riddled with gang members."
"I went to court yesterday, and I took the stand, and I told the court that I've had time to think, and I actually forgave the shooter. There are 2 reasons why I chose to take that stand. We have no witness protection program in Belize, and I have family members in that area, and that vicinity and I don't know what could happen, and I won't take the chance."
"I thought to myself, these officers are the real culprits. They took me from where I was, a safe environment, and placed me in an area that they know is unsafe for anyone."
"By placing me there, their hopes, what they hoped to have happened, actually happened."
Augustine tells us that since his shooting in 2014, he has tried to make a formal complaint against the officers who put him in danger, but he feels that the authorities who are supposed to pursue his complaint have pretty much ignored it.
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