St. Maarten Police investigating
‘gay bashing’ report
Incident gets wide international coverage
St. Maarten--CBS News aired the arrival and transfer of one of its senior producers and a senior researcher for the 48 Hours show to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, where they were treated for injuries they sustained when they were beaten up here, allegedly because they were gay.
Questions had been raised earlier by victim Richard Jefferson, a senior CBS News producer, about the seeming lack of police involvement in trying to solve the matter. St. Maarten Police spokesman Inspector Johan “Janchi” Leonard said on Sunday, April 9, that police had visited the scene, but the victims had been transferred to St. Maarten Medical Center by that time and the officers had not been permitted to speak to them at that stage.
He told The Daily Herald, “Yes, there was an incident which occurred on Thursday, April 6, around 3:00am not far from the entrance of Caravanserai Resort, Maho, St. Maarten, in which a group of unknown men ill-treated two American citizens with a pipe wrench. The victims were transported to the medical centre and were later flown out to Miami via Air Ambulance.”
Leonard said, “We do not take the ill-treatment of any person, whether resident or visitor, lightly and we are pursuing the matter as the investigation continues in a bid to find the suspects.”
The two victims, Jefferson and Ryan Smith, were beaten on the head with the pipe wrench. While Jefferson was able to walk and could speak, his friend Smith had to be kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until their transfer to the hospital in Miami. Smith is reportedly suffering from a cracked skull and has difficulty speaking.
According to Jefferson’s statement to The Daily Herald, St. Maarten, he met his friend Smith and others at Bamboo Bernie’s and learnt that some young men had been “harassing” them. Jefferson said they had left Bamboo Bernie’s and walked past Sunset Beach Bar, Maho. While they were walking, Smith and others were a short distance in front of him.
He saw that a crowd had gathered and there was an altercation. When he got there to find out what was the problem, the man whom he witnessed wielding a wheel wrench struck him with it and that was all he remembered.
Reports from friends of Jefferson and Smith who were at the scene stated that there had been about four male and two female suspects in a car. They drove the car towards Smith and accelerated, apparently in a bid to run him over. Smith reportedly landed on the hood of the car and when the car stopped and he got back to his feet, the men got out and started beating him.
The Daily Herald visited the St. Maarten Medical Center and spoke to both victims, but Smith’s conversation was difficult to follow. He spoke with a very weak voice, some of his words were not pronounced completely and he never completed a sentence.
Leonard said the police were asking for the assistance of the community and would appreciate any information from person(s) who witnessed the incident or could identify the suspects involved.
