– mother, son arrested for aiding convict

A mother and her son and three other persons are in police custody assisting with investigations after it is believed that they aided prison escape, Stafrei Hopkenson Alexander called “Mad dog,” who has been hiding in the East Berbice area.

The mother and son from Babu John, Port Mourant East Berbice Corentyne are believed to have been supplying food to the wanted man, who was reportedly holed up in the Port Mourant Backlands. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Alexander was in the area since Sunday, where he has been receiving food and water from the mother and her 19-year-old.

Meanwhile, as the Joint Services ranks intensify their search in the backlands for the prison escapee, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan is confident that the authorities are closing in on the wanted men.

“They have split up, these are smart people but we are onto them…through a variety of ways, technologically and through human intelligence. They are in rough spots because people are not giving them the support, so their state of nutrition and a number of other things are taking a toll on them,” Ramjattan said at State House on Wednesday morning.

Alexander along with Cobena Stephens aka “OJ,” Mark Royden Williams and Uree Varswyk are wanted by the police for escaping from the Georgetown Prison on July 9, during a fire which gutted sections of the prison.

Ramjattan said that the Joint Services are onto “a lot of information” regarding the men, some of which he said is genuine. Reports from Berbice are that the lawmen are hot on the heels of Alexander, who was spotted in the Ancient County this week. The efforts of the ranks led them to an area aback of Dispensary Dam, Ankerville in Port Mourant.
Acting on information, the Joint Services conducted an operation Tuesday evening at Port Mourant and which continued early Wednesday morning. Alexander reportedly slept in a hammock which was tied to a tree aback the area.
However, despite the efforts of the Joint Services, the wanted man managed to remain elusive. There are unconfirmed reports that Alexander may have been injured since police saw blood in the area and bullet holes in the hammock in which he was sleeping. Several food boxes were found close to the tree where the man was spotted.
Since last Friday night, the police nabbed two of the six men for whom wanted bulletins were issued following the Camp Street fire. Desmond James and Trinidadian convict Cornelius Thomas were nabbed during separate operations recently.
The Georgetown Prison fire resulted in the over 1000 prisoners being shifted from Camp Street to share a space with the inmates at the Lusignan prison. Efforts are now underway to improve the conditions at the East Coast Demerara facility.