Toll fury - Cops angry after colleague dies in highway crash

Corporal Rohan James has blasted the Government for what he said is its reluctance to change the rules to allow police free access to the country's toll road.

A policeman, Constable Carr, died as a result of injuries sustained during a crash on the North-South link of Highway 2000 - which stretches from Caymanas in St Catherine to Mammee Bay, St Ann - yesterday.

It is alleged that the toll booth operators refused to allow the police vehicles through the barrier as they attempted to rush their injured colleague and his passenger to the hospital.

"The Government must accept responsibility and treat with this matter once and for all," James said, while adding that the matter was raised on two occasions in recent times.

"It cannot be that the Jamaica Defence Force has unfettered access to the toll road and the police officers' -- who have greater remit for law enforcement in this country -- hands are being tied," he said.

Reports from the St Ann's Bay police are that about 8:30 p.m., Carr was driving his motor car heading to St. Ann when he allegedly lost control of the vehicle and collided in a ditch. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A female occupant also sustained injuries; she is currently being treated at the hospital.

Senior Superintendent Kirk Ricketts, who heads the St Andrew South police, the division in which Carr worked, said that the constable may have had a fighting chance of survival had he been taken to hospital sooner.

"I've had some discussions with medical representatives from the hospital who would have indicated to me that had he arrived earlier, he would have probably had a better chance," the senior cop told THE STAR.

Ricketts said that the factors contributing to the delay in taking the injured persons to the hospital are being assessed.

"We are hearing that there were a number of issues; one issue could have been where the car ran off the road into a ravine and that could have created some problems in retrieving the persons. But we are also hearing that there might have been a stand-off between toll authority personnel and police in terms of access and exiting the toll road in this emergency situation," Ricketts said.

"How long that issue took for it to resolved, I am not yet sure, but if it even took five minutes, that would have been five minutes too many," he said.

Senior Superintendent Dwight Powell, head of the St Ann police, said that his cops who went to the scene of the accident had difficulties coming off the toll road.

"We accessed the road and did what was necessary when we were informed and took the victims to the hospital. We had a little bit of challenge coming of," Powell said.

Meanwhile, Lisa Hanna, Member of Parliament for South East St Ann, has called on the Government to grant local police officers full exemption from the toll in the aftermath of Carr's death.

"As l reflect on the events surrounding this tragedy, I call on the Government to ensure that local police station vehicles, for example at the Claremont, Moneague and St Ann's Bay police stations, have full access to the highway with toll exemptions," she said.