Interview with Lord Rhaburn
On August 22nd - 88 year old Gerald Lord Rhaburn was knocked down in front of his home in a traffic accident both inexplicable and deeply troubling. But, it's also a miracle that he survived.
This evening, he finally felt well enough to tell Jomarie Lanza his story - here it is:
He says it's a miracle that he is still alive and sitting before us today. The Musical Legend's life was threatened on August 28th, while coming back home from a night out at Tropicana. He was the victim of a hit and run in front of his own house here on Coney Drive, and today he gave us a recount of how it happened.
Lord Rhaburn, Music Legend
"Well, I was getting out of the car. All I saw was some bright lights like a couple of feet away. And I get knocked. There are some things that I cannot disclose on the media right now, my main concern is that who so ever knocked me down either meant to kill me or they were drunk or something. The point is that they didn't pick me up, they just gone."
"They left me down there like a dog. And I don't think that is the way to go. Luckily, my, my, my son-in-law was right nearby and he came and picked me up along with the taxi driver. But the problem is, now that I understand when the traffic police came here that they have everything under control and find the people and find the missing car and everything and they took a statement from me. And for me, and they left."
"I believe before they came here they knew everything. But I don't know why this masquerade they are masquerading around and around. Tell me one thing and mean something else. They phoned me and told me that they impounded the car and arrested the person. You know, and yet I haven't seen that person come to me face to face to tell me why he knocked me down. I have to assume 2 things, right? Either he meant to do it or they were drunk or something."
"Or was smoking something and they knocked me down."
Rhaburn says days after he gave his statement to the police, his relatives were the ones to locate the vehicle that hit him and the person they believed was behind the wheel. He says that he had lost his confidence in the police and their investigation because of their lack of urgency, especially given his years of service in the music industry.
Lord Rhaburn, Music Legend
"I sacrificed my whole life in music. Now, my face is never disfigured. I am a man that loves my nose. And I see. When I look in the mirror now, I got a mark on my nose and a part of my lip. Inside the mouth. All these things are a problem with the kind of work I do yet nobody comes to say sorry or anything to me. I do everything for my people and the country."
"I started that way from I was 8; I have been entertaining in music. So I got like 8 decades of music. And like, when you are relating something that is in your head to get it out, you're going to knock me down and slam me down on the street like a dog and just walk away, drive away and don't come and say anything. And now playing a lot of games with my life."
"My face is disfigured and I am taking some other tests. I have tests still pending."
The incident has not only threatened his life but also his music career, and though he is at home resting and recovering still, after three operations, Rhaburn says that the show must go on, and hopes that he will still be able to make his performances.
Lord Rhaburn, Music Legend
"I will perform if I have to drop down. I am Mister September. I lay down in my bed and I wonder about it, like why me, why this. Want to know what happened to me and this and that and I kind of thing. And I can't answer them and I can't say I'm taking care of it and the police are taking care of it and they because I had confidence in the police but they don't have none. I am just a dog, they knocked me down and now they think they could dilly dally around the bush on this and so go through having fun."
Police have not yet arrested or charged anyone for the hit and run.
| 