PHILIPSBURG--Police arrested a man D.F. on Sunday evening, June 21, for damaging a police pickup truck on Thursday, June 11, when police were arresting another man.
- was allegedly one in a group of persons who threw stones at the police truck and broke its windshield and side windows.
The incident on June 11 started when a police patrol spotted a red Suzuki in the Philipsburg area driving towards Sucker Garden. At the time, St. Maarten was still under a daily curfew from 11:00pm to 5:00am. Because it was during curfew hours, officers attempted to stop and control the vehicle.
When police commanded the driver to pull over, he ignored them and sped away. The officers were then led on a high-speed chase toward Defiance.
The driver eventually turned into the driveway of a home in the Defiance area. According to police, the driver stepped out of the vehicle and began to threaten the officers who, by then, had also stepped out of the police vehicle to approach him.
Persons in the area began to throw stones at the police when they saw what was taking place. The officers were forced to retreat, and stepped back into the police vehicle to avoid being injured by flying projectiles.
However, the stone-throwers continued to hurl rocks and other heavy objects, damaging the police vehicle’s windshield and shattering several of the side windows.
A woman who resides in the home came outside and began to threaten the officers.
With all the commotion, the officers called for backup and several other police personnel came to the scene to lend their colleagues a helping hand.
Police then attempted to arrest the Suzuki driver. According to police, he resisted arrest and had to be “forcefully detained.”
Meanwhile, the woman assaulted a police officer who was carrying out the driver’s arrest, said police. She was subsequently arrested for this act.
Police also searched the area to find and arrest the stone-throwers. Officers managed to locate one of them and arrested him for the part he had played in damaging the police vehicle.
In total, three persons were arrested in that incident, one of them being a stone-thrower.
Following the incident, police promised to find and arrest other persons involved in damaging the police truck.
“After further investigation, officers received information that D.F. was also one of the persons involved in the stone-throwing. D.F. fled the scene after damaging the police vehicle. … The suspect was transported to the police station [on June 21 – Ed.] and incarcerated pending further investigation. This investigation is still ongoing,” said police.
