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PHILIPSBURG--Authorities have not yet made any arrests in the incident which occurred outside the Harbour in mid-July where two armed men, one of whom is said to be a taxi driver, threatened a licensed taxi driver of Haitian descent with guns and fired two shots into the air over the transport of passengers.
Prosecutor Karola van Nie told The Daily Herald on Thursday that the Prosecutor’s Office is aware of the incident and noted that the case is under investigation. Acting Police spokesperson Inspector Steven Carty said he could not confirm any details of the incident when contacted on Wednesday and again on Thursday. He said Thursday that the person from whom he had to get information was not in the office.
This newspaper was told by two eyewitnesses that the taxi driver of Haitian descent had been in the process of picking up a group of cruise ship passengers outside the harbour when he was approached by another legitimate taxi driver who began dissuading the tourists from embarking the taxi of the Haitian national.
The aggressive taxi driver told the passengers that the Haitian taxi driver was not operating legally. However, the Haitian driver pulled out his permit and said he had indeed been licensed to practice. He said that his regular vehicle was broken down at the time and he was therefore using another vehicle to conduct his work.
Despite producing his permit, the aggressor still ushered the tourists away from the legitimate Haitian taxi driver and reportedly guided them to embark the vehicle of another person, said to be his family member.
The forceful taxi driver then returned to the legitimate Haitian taxi driver with another male, and one pointed a gun to the Haitian’s head while another to his stomach and threatened him. Two shots were then reportedly fired into the air which resulted in tourists scampering back into the harbour. The Daily Herald understands that the incident was witnessed by several persons.
This newspaper also understands that Checkmate Security Services has compiled a full incident report on the matter.
When originally contacted on Wednesday, Carty said authorities were still trying to figure out what occurred exactly during the incident. He indicated, however, that a report had been filed on the matter on the same day that it occurred.
