Cutlass wielding man attacks police officers

Police have launched a man hunt for an Arnos Vale man who they say attacked two police officers with a cutlass on Monday, February 23, in the vicinity of the Richmond Hill public road.{{more}}

According to the police, constables Corridon and Adams, both attached to the Traffic Division, were on motorcycle patrol at around 6:15 p.m. when they spotted Rodney Lewis driving an uninsured white 4-ton Hino truck (T2450) and gave chase.

SEARCHLIGHT understands that Lewis had been barred from obtaining a driver’s licence on August 20, 2008, for driving without a licence.

He was again caught driving on November 20, 2008, despite his previous breach of the law.

On Monday, Lewis refused to stop when instructed by the police who were sounding their sirens and also addressing him using the loud speakers attached to their motorcycles.

Police claim that they tried to overtake the truck, but Lewis was swerving the truck to deter them. When a vehicle coming in the opposite direction obstructed the truck’s progress, the truck slid off the road.

What followed next shocked the two unarmed officers.

The officers parked their cycles and approached the vehicle, only to be greeted, they claim, by a cutlass wielding Lewis, and had to run for their lives.

“The driver fired a chop at the head of PC Corridon,” said second-in-command of the Traffic Division Inspector Kenneth John.

Lewis then reportedly went back into the truck and drove off and is now in hiding.

“We don’t usually come across these things [in Traffic Department],” Inspector John told SEARCHLIGHT.

“Society has changed,” he added.

At press time the manhunt was continuing.