A veteran police officer is suing the commissioner of police for damages after his spine was fractured during a chaotic boat chase on choppy water.
The incident took place southeast of the Cayman Islands in 2021 as a police sea-and-air convoy attempted to intercept a Jamaican drug running vessel.
During the high-speed pursuit, waves reached up to eight feet, causing the boats to occasionally jump out of the water before landing hard back on the sea.
In a writ of summons, Pedro Echenique’s lawyers allege the police boat did not have all necessary equipment on board, was not maintained, and the captain was driving it unsafely.
They claim the commissioner and his “servants or agents” caused his injuries through negligence.
Although Kurt Walton was not commissioner at the time of the incident, as current head of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, he will be responsible for answering the summons.
Echenique, who had been an employee of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service for 14 years, was 61 years old at the time of the incident.
High-speed chase
The writ states that on 31 March 2021, a drug operation took place involving the Joint Marine Unit and the Cayman Islands Coast Guard.
It involved two boats – the 27-foot police patrol vessel Trident, and the 38-foot Niven-D.
There were four officers on board the Trident, including Echenique, who was sitting in the front seat on the port side. Police constable John Andrews was captaining the boat.
A police helicopter, named X-Ray 1, was also involved in the operation, the writ says.
An officer in the helicopter announced over the radio that they spotted a suspect vessel resembling a Jamaican canoe, and the crew was throwing packages overboard.
According to the writ, the suspected drug boat turned and started to proceed southeast towards Jamaica at a “very high rate of speed”.
Chief Inspector Sean Bryan, in response to the information, said to let the craft go but recover the packages.
The helicopter pilot then said the Jamaican boat was slowing down due to weather conditions.
As a result, the Coast Guard’s Lieutenant Commander Leo Anglin told both vessels to “make best speed” and intercept the boat, the writ says.
“The sea was rough with wave heights of six to eight feet which caused the patrol vessels to bounce around a lot and at times jump out of the water,” it continues.
“Echenique told the boat captain this is not a life or death situation so what was the need for the boat to continue this pursuit at such a high rate of speed.”
He told the captain they should slow down, the writ claims, but this did not happen.
Multiple injuries
During the chase, the Trident left the water and landed on the port side “which caused everyone on board to bounce up and down very hard”, the writ says.
“This impact was so hard that the plaintiff cried out in pain that his back was injured and that they must stop the vessel.”
The captain contacted the Niven-D to come alongside the Trident and take Echenique off the boat and back to shore for medical treatment.
The Trident then resumed the chase and finally intercepted the Jamaican boat 25 miles from the Cayman Islands.
At that point, it lost all engine power and started to take on water from what appeared to be a missing hatch that came loose during the chase, the writ says.
Echenique alleges the incident is the result of negligence as the Trident had not been commissioned, it did not have the necessary equipment on board and was thus unsafe.
Among his injuries were a compression fracture of a vertebra, stiffness in his thoracolumbar spine and secondary scoliosis as well as an increase in the curve of the spine.
The commissioner of police has 14 days, from 23 Oct. when the writ was issued, to respond or face court.
The Compass has contacted the police press office for a comment on the writ of summons and is awaiting a response.
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