Gendarmes detaining the young man in Belvedere on Tuesday afternoon.
BELVEDERE--A young man tried to elude capture by French St. Martin Gendarmes on Tuesday afternoon, but was ultimately arrested in Belvedere after a high-speed chase that rattled the neighbourhood.
The young man was driving an old model Kia Picanto in French Quarter on Tuesday afternoon when a Gendarmerie patrol signalled for him to pull over. Instead, the young man bolted and made a mad dash for the border at high speed.
Gendarmes claim that the young man threw a bag out of the car window while he was attempting to escape, giving rise to suspicions that the man was carrying a sizeable quantity of drugs on him.
The young man turned into Belvedere after crossing the border, with a Gendarmerie vehicle in hot pursuit. The Gendarmes managed to stop the vehicle in Belvedere. The officers immediately detained him and placed in the back of the Gendarmerie vehicle.
A crowd of residents had gathered at the scene, probably drawn out by the commotion of the high-speed chase. Several filmed the arrest with their cell phones, and some loudly warned the Gendarmes against striking the youth. Others told the officers that they had no authority to arrest the young man on the Dutch side.
Dutch-side police arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and took the youth into custody.
No contraband was found in the man’s possession and the Kia Picanto was not stolen, said Dutch St. Maarten police spokesperson Inspector Ethelwoldus “Joe” Josepha on Tuesday evening. However, the man was not carrying any identification.
He was released from police custody on Tuesday evening.
According to Josepha, the two police forces can cross borders in pursuit of criminal suspects if their law enforcement counterparts have been informed of the situation. In this case, Dutch-side police had the responsibility of taking the suspect into custody and were to be briefed about the development.
