As announced in our edition yesterday, a Saint-Martin law enforcement officer was injured during a traffic check last Thursday. Here are the circumstances of this accident communicated by Lieutenant-Colonel Wintzer.
Thursday, March 16 around 3 a.m., a gendarmerie patrol is on the Savannah road when it sees a vehicle with strange behavior. Corresponding to the type of cars stolen frequently on Saint-Martin, the gendarmes decide to check the vehicle. As soon as they activate their flashing light, the vehicle turns around and drives at very high speed in the direction of Grand-Case. The driver then turned off his headlights in Grand-Case to escape the patrol, which, although driving at more than 100 km/h, had difficulty in catching up with the car of the fugitives, which did not hesitate to swerve to prevent the gendarmes from double them. On several occasions, third-party vehicles are crossed and accidents are narrowly avoided, the suspect vehicle still driving with all lights off at more than 140km / h. A second patrol leaves to reinforce the first patrol which discovers that the vehicle has just left the road on the heights of Orient Bay after a journey of 6km. The gendarmes then get out of their vehicle and immediately issue the summons, asking the driver to switch off the ignition. While a policeman is resting on the front of the vehicle, the recalcitrant driver decides to restart. The officer did not have time to withdraw completely, was hit and collapsed at the level of the bumper, prompting a response from his colleague who fired his firearm twice. At the same time, the second patrol arrives on the scene and is struck on the right side of the vehicle. She continues to follow the fugitives' car, which continues on its way through Quartier Orléans despite the explosion of one of its tires and the multiple swerves made by the vehicle. In accordance with the police cooperation agreements, the French gendarmes continue to follow the vehicle in the Dutch part until the latter makes another exit from the road. The two occupants of the fleeing vehicle, with no seat belts fastened and faced with the violence of the impact, were immediately taken care of by the agents who provided them with the first aid measures until the arrival of the KPSM. The two victims have numerous bruises, one of them suffers from a serious injury to a lower limb but nothing incompatible with police custody. The driver of the vehicle went to immediate appearance on Friday March 17 for the refusal to comply and the violence against a soldier of the gendarmerie. Her hearing was postponed to April 21 at the request of the defense and the person concerned is placed under judicial supervision by then. The injured soldier was released from the hospital with 4 days of Total Incapacity for Work (ITT). Authorities said the suspect vehicle was not stolen. _VX
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