ID parade for Clarke’s Town four Monday
WESTERN BUREAU — The four men being held in connection with the near-fatal stabbing of a gas station worker at Clarke’s Town in Trelwany, sparking a mass protest in the town last Saturday, are to face an identification parade on Monday.
The 24-year-old gas station attendant, Wayne Clarke, was stabbed in his right and left sides allegedly during an altercation with the men at about 2:30 pm last Saturday.
The four men, whose names are being withheld by the police, were among a busload of passengers from Litchfield in South Trelawny on their way to Burwood Beach in North Trelawny.
The bus had reportedly pulled into the station to repair a punctured tyre when the argument developed between the attendant about where one of the men could wash his hands.
The other men became involved in the dispute and one of them allegedly stabbed the attendant.
The Clarke’s Town police were called to the scene and the men were taken to the police station.
Over 100 irate residents then went to the station to demand the men’s release into their custody and when the police refused, they threw stones at the station.
After that they turned their attention to the bus in which the men had travelled, having already forced the passengers to take refuge inside the station house.
The bus was set ablaze, the windscreen damaged and the tyres slashed. When the police continued to refuse to give in to their demands, they took their protest to the streets, blocking the main road with burning debris.
It was not until 10:45 pm that they finally dispersed, leaving the police to clean up the debris.
Meanwhile, the gas station attendant, who was admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in serious condition, should have been released from hospital yesterday