Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

Popular reggae singer Dwight 'Bushman' Duncan has been left distraught after claims of being abused by police officers outside of a carnival event in St Thomas last Saturday.

According to Bushman, it was when his wife, Vanessa, went to the venue to round up cheerleaders for a football league they were putting on that the altercation took place.

"After my wife was standing at the gate for a long time and couldn't get in, I then went over and asked the police who was manning the gate to let my wife in because she was going to look about some business. The policeman proceeded to close the gate, but by this time, one of my wife's legs was already inside. So, I stopped the gate and he said 'Bushman, leggo di gate before mi empty mi gun inna yuh f...g face'," Bushman recalled.

He added, "I jus reply, 'Man, yuh cyan empty yuh ... gun inna mi face'. By this time, DJ Squeeze saw what was happening and told them to let me in."

"The police then seh, 'If yuh let in di dread bwoy, mi done work fi di night'. By this, a man in plain clothes grab mi from behind an seh, 'Hey bwoy! A police yuh a dis', an tru reflex, mi grab him an flash him off. Den mi realise seh is a next police. So we were in an altercation for a good while," Bushman said.

multiple charges

Bushman says he was then taken into custody and charged with assault and malicious destruction of property, and his wife charged with resisting arrest and obstruction.

Bushman says he was eventually released about 4:30 a.m. after getting bail amounting to $20,000. He is scheduled to appear in the Yallahs RM Court on March 12 and 13, to answer to separate charges.

When contacted, the Police Public Complaints Authority, an independent body that investigates police excesses, confirmed that they had received a report from Bushman.

Bushman says: "People been saying I left my home to go to carnival to mash it up, but I'm not a mad man. I wouldn't have been there in the first place if I wasn't affiliated with the programme. For the last four years, I've brought my wife to the carnival and pick her up, but I can't take being around so much naked women, it come in like go-go club."

community building

"We have a cheerleading group an' a football team weh wi a try promote a St Thomas. Wi a try fi build a under-15 corner league there, so we had a fund-raiser and it came off well, even though it was our first attempt."