WESTERN BUREAU:
AN ANGRY mob of Clark's Town residents in Trelawny went wild late Saturday attacking the police station and demanding the release of the four men accused of stabbing 24-year-old gas station attendant, Wayne Clarke.
The crowd of some 300 hurled stones and threatened to burn down the station if the detainees were not released, police said late Saturday. The police fired warning shots into the air and used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Detective Corporal Eldaine Reynolds, stationed at the Clark's Town Police Station, told The Gleaner that at about 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, a minibus travelling from Litchfield, northern Trelawny, to a beach in the parish, developed a flat tyre and stopped at the Esso petrol station in the community for assistance.
While at the service station, a heated argument developed between Mr. Clarke and a man on the bus. Mr. Clarke reportedly went into the office at the service station and was followed by four men from the bus, one of whom stabbed him in the chest. He was taken to the Falmouth Hospital and later transferred to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James. The four men were taken into police custody at the Clark's Town Police Station.
As news spread of the attack on Mr. Clarke, an angry mob descended on the police station, urging the lawmen to release the accused. When the police refused, residents threw stones at the station. They also set ablaze the minibus that the men were travelling in.
Detective Corporal Reynolds said the police extinguished the blaze on three separate occasions, but each time the fire was restarted by the angry residents. The tyres on the bus were also slashed. This forced the police to call for backup from their colleagues in Falmouth and Montego Bay, St. James. The combined forces dispersed the angry crowd with warning shots and teargas.
Detective Corporal Reynolds confirmed that Miss Kahaliah Allen, a teacher, originally from Jackson Town, Trelawny, was wounded by a bullet. She has since been treated at hospital and sent home.
Meanwhile, Mr. Clarke is still in hospital in stable condition.
None of the four men taken into custody in relation to the incident had been charged up to late yesterday.
