ORANGE WALK, Mon. Jan. 4, 2016–A couple who were riding along the Philip Goldson Highway, in Carmelita Village, were knocked down and run over by a vehicle that did not stop to help them at about 9:30 Saturday night, January 2.
Lea Crawford, 21, a teacher of Carmelita Village, died on the spot, while Adrian Wade, 27, was declared dead on arrival at the Northern Regional Hospital.
Assistant Superintendent Selwyn Tillett, Commander of Orange Walk Police, said that Crawford and Wade were riding on the same bicycle, when a Toyota 4Runner, driven by Perry Gibson, 44, a businessman of Belize City, who was travelling to Belize City from Orange Walk, knocked them down and did not stop.
Tillett said that the vehicle came to a halt about a half-mile from where the accident happened, due to mechanical failure, and so Gibson was promptly arrested and taken into custody.
Commander Tillett said that the front of the vehicle, which stopped in front of the Carmelita Supermarket, located along the highway, was damaged.
Tillett announced on Love News that a post-mortem on the two accident victims was carried out yesterday, and the examination declared that the cause of death of both persons was multiple traumatic injuries due to the road traffic accident.
Gibson was consequently charged with two counts of causing death by careless conduct, two counts of manslaughter by negligence, two counts of driving without due care and attention, failure to provide a specimen for analysis, failure to stop and render aid, and failure to report an accident.
He was taken to the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court today, where he was arraigned on the charges and offered bail of $20,000, which he met. He was ordered to return to court on February 5.
Police said that when the 4Runner broke down, right after the accident, a group of eyewitnesses from the village surrounded the vehicle, and took the driver out of the vehicle, intending to beat him.
Police arrived and rescued him by taking him into custody.
The couple was reportedly going home from a wedding in the village, when they were knocked down and killed.