Jones said that on weekends he usually runs people from an area of the island referred to as ?The Split,? over to the other side, where a popular nightclub is located. He says he is a licensed boat captain and has been doing these runs for quite some time now, along with his sons.

That night was like all others, Jones says. He was loading passengers near The Split to take over to the other side around 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning, July 17. Passengers were waiting for the boat to finish loading and go across, when the two officers approached, asking Jones to talk to them for a minute. Jones said he got out and went to where the officers were standing. The OC, he alleges, roughly asked him who had given him permission to go across the water.

Jones said he asked them what they were talking about, saying that it was what he always did. The two officers moved a couple steps away, he alleges, and exchanged a couple words he couldn?t hear. They returned to where he was standing, Jones continued, then the OC told the WPC to take him down to the station and lock him up.

While Jones was not told why he was being locked up, even after asking a number of times, he said, his cellular phone was taken away, and he was taken to the station and locked in a cell. A short while later, Jones relates, a young man came by the station to find out why he was being held. The young man, known to Jones as ?Sheva,? was harassed as soon as he walked into the station. According to Jones, Sheva was grabbed by the throat by the same OC and slammed into a wall. When Sheva asked why he was being thrown around, the police told an officer on duty to lock him up, as well.

Jones says he was kept in the cell until around 9:45 the same morning, when he woke up. He said he asked the officer on duty if he could make a phone call, but was informed that the police station phone was pre-paid, and could only be used with a phone card. He said he asked the officers? permission to use his own cell phone, which they still had, to make the call. The officer obliged and Jones called his son.

His son came by shortly after, he said, and asked for the OC. His son was informed that the OC was asleep and he would need to wait. Jones? son asked the officer on duty to please wake him up so they could find out what the problem was with his father. The officer did, and shortly after, Jones says, the corporal came from upstairs the station, where he resides. He opened the cell, where Jones and Sheva were in, told them not to let it happen again, then turned and went back upstairs.

Jones is upset, he says, because he feels violated and embarrassed. He has lodged a complaint with Internal Affairs Office in Belize City, and is waiting to hear an answer from the office.

Amandala contacted the Police Press Officer, G. Michael Reid, in Belize City on the matter. The situation is being looked into, they say. As for as Jones being detained, they say it was only to verify his license and to question him. Jones was never brutalized, Reid said, and Jones admitted this to Amandala.

Jones had alleged, however, that Sheva had been roughed up, but Reid told Amandala that Sheva has not come forward to make any complaint, and allegations of brutality could not be looked into without a formal complaint.

According to police, Jones was only approached because the club he was running people to was reportedly being operated illegally on the island. The officers had only approached him to ask a couple of questions, and find out some information, the officers told Reid. However, Jones started acting unruly and had resisted the officers, so that is why they held him, they said.

Reid said that he has spoken to the other officers on the island, and they deny that the OC had acted outside his authority.

The investigation into the matter will continue next week when police press officer, G. Michael Reid, will travel to Caye Caulker, along with Assistant Commissioner of Police, Maureen Leslie. Reid told Amandala that when he arrives at the island, he would take Jones in front of the OC and have him repeat his charges.

Effort to have the OC on Caye Caulker comment on the incident proved futile. He told Amandala today that he could only speak if given permission by the Commissioner of Police.

When we called, however, the ComPol told us that he knew nothing of the matter, and that the OC did not need his permission to talk to us.