–Uses Police Consumers Complex on Robb Street to his advantage

THERE was high drama for close to one hour on Robb Street, here in the city yesterday as 16-year-old Nicholas Kissoon, who claims he was sexually molested by three policemen on Tuesday, staged a roof-top protest against the alleged ignominy he was forced to suffer. 

In what may well be a strategic move, Kissoon mounted the roof of the Police Consumers’ Coop Society complex on Robb Street, near Stabroek News, and despite the broiling sun, remained there, pacing up and down from time to time and threatening to jump off any time it took his fancy.
The move was his way of speaking out against the alleged violation visited upon him, and letting the public know, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, of a concerted effort by the police to silence him, as he claimed from the relative safety of the roof-top.
On the other hand, he may have received word that his own relatives had turned against him, having come out and made some very strong statements against him, particularly in relation to his lifestyle, possibly in an attempt to counter the damning allegations he had made against the police.
It would appear that the lad accessed the Police Consumers’ roof from that of the Stabroek News, which is much lower by comparison, then worked his way upwards.
Meanwhile, the sight of a ‘man on the roof ’, in spite of becoming quite commonplace now, created quite a stir in the busy commercial area between Camp and Wellington Streets shortly before noon, and attracted quite a large crowd, as media operatives and curious passersby hurried to the scene to see what was going on.
After learning of the incident, a unit from the Central Fire Station descended on the scene, as did police ranks, all in a desperate bid to get Kissoon down safely.
But fearing that the police might either harm or take him into custody, the terrified and evidently confused teen remained glued to the roof, from whence he attempted to make statements to the media and a social worker

on the ground, but steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the lawmen.
As Nicholas remained on the roof, there were several pleas from the crowd below for him to peacefully come down, but he remained resolutely defiant; no amount of cajoling could bring him down. From where he was, he was surrounded by a dangerous network of power lines, which would have resulted in a serious catastrophe had he only jumped.
Meantime, the firemen affixed a steel ladder to the building and attempted to climb the roof, but this terrified Nicholas even further, and sent him scurrying across the roof and even higher.

Eventually, as he reached the highest point of the roof and stood, apparently lost in thought, watching the babbling crowd below, a witty policeman seized the opportunity to stealthily climb the ladder from an easterly direction, and running stealthily towards Nicholas, grabbed him from behind.
Immediately, back-up from all angles closed in, and the would-be protester was handcuffed, hands and feet.
But unassuming though he looked, Nicholas did not intend going down without a fight, and put up quite a show, kicking and screaming as he fiercely resisted five able-bodied men. Eventually, they were able to subdue him and get him down the ladder and into a waiting police vehicle. By then, it was around 13:05 hrs.
Asked later what he thought was the matter with the beleaguered teen, Chief Probation and Social Services Officer, Mr. Forbes Munroe, who was at the scene, said:
“This is somebody that we have been working with, and he was at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) and we continued to have after-care with him; we continued to work with him.
“As to what has really resulted in him getting up top there, I cannot say exactly. But what I can say for a fact is that at the Ministry of Human Services, we’re working with him, and at this point in time, we’re going to try to see if we can have psychiatric evaluation.”

Pressed further into saying what fate awaited Nicholas after being brought down from the roof, Munroe said he would be taken to the hospital, and from there, further treatment/therapy would be accessed.
As for the sodomy charges against the police, Munroe said: “I don’t know; it’s an allegation, and I cannot say whether it’s true or not. We’ll have to wait on the results of the medical. The matter is still being investigated, so I cannot say anything further.”

(By Shirley Thomas)