Police say charges have yet to be filed against three Bodden Town youth arrested over alleged interference with the CAT excavator arm that Border Control Minister Dwayne Seymour collided with on 8 Aug.
The Bodden Town East MP, who was driving a black Chevrolet Tahoe, collided with the excavator around 12:30am that morning.
He was transported to hospital for head injuries and later released.
Three young people, whose ages were not released, remain on bail on suspicion of carrying out a reckless and negligent act, having allegedly moved the excavator and placed its extended arm onto the road on Anton Bodden Drive.
Police, in response to Compass queries on whether the excavator’s owner would also face charges, said, “the investigation into the collision remains ongoing and all avenues will be explored”.
The service declined to share any further details on the internal investigation launched by Police Commissioner Kurt Walton last week into the failure to retrieve a blood sample from Minister Seymour after the collision.
“No further comment on the matter will be made at this time,” the RCIPS said when asked for a timeframe on the probe and which unit was conducting the internal inquiry.
The Compass is awaiting response from the ombudsman’s office on whether it will conduct an independent investigation in relation to this case.
The internal probe by police was triggered following conflicting stories concerning the lack of a blood sample after it was revealed that no testing was done on the Bodden Town East MP. A sample would have determined the minister’s blood-alcohol content in lieu of conducting a breathalyser test.
Police first said a sample was requested for investigative purposes following the collision. They later said the attending physician objected to that request.
The Health Services Authority denied this claim, stating the RCIPS officers who attended the hospital and who requested the sample did not provide the necessary testing kit as per the established procedure to obtain blood samples.
In the aftermath of that controversy, police also announced that a review is ongoing of section 86(2) of the Traffic Act, which concerns the circumstances under which a specimen of blood or urine can be taken following a collision.
Police argued that in its current form, this section “does not address situations where a patient is unconscious or cannot give consent because of his/her condition”.
The RCIPS policy on testing of drivers following a collision is also being reviewed, police said.
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