BY SACHA WALTERS, Staff Reporter
POPULAR SOUND SYSTEM owner and selector 'Fire Links' alleged refusal to "lock off his dance" has left him in hot water with the law.
Fire Links, born, Dane Johnson, was brought before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday to answer to charges of operating a sound system beyond 12:30 a.m., operating a sound system audible beyond 100 yards, three counts of assaulting a constable, escaping custody, two counts of resisting arrest, abusive language, indecent language and disorderly conduct.
The allegations, according to court records, are that on May 23 Constables Tamara Dias and Vernon Carter of the Half-Way Tree Police Station were patrolling the St. Andrew Central Division when at approximately 2:30 a.m. they received a radio message of a complaint of loud noise in the vicinity of Molynes Road and Cassia Park Road. They went to the location, along with two other officers where they heard loud music playing in the distance. The sound eventually led them to an open area, 50A Molynes Road, where they saw a party with approximately 200 people. A man, who later identified himself as Ken Smith, who was operating the sound system turned off the music at the request of the police and produced a permit for the event. However, it stated that it should have ended at 12:30 a.m. The officer instructed him not to turn the music on again and he agreed and the police left the location.
The police visited the location two additional times the same morning. At approximately 3:30 a.m. the operators were told to turn off the music and warned that the equipment could be seized.
TURN OFF THE MUSIC
At approximately 4:30 a.m. they visited the premises for the third time where it is said that they saw Smith along with Fire Links and a third man. Constable Carter instructed them to turn off the music and told them they would be arrested and charged and the equipment seized because they were playing music that could be heard beyond 100 yards and beyond the designated time.
Fire Links is said to have refused and when Constable Carter attempted to take him and the other men to the station, he is said to have grabbed onto the officer's vest and a struggle ensued. It is alleged that he shouted obscenities at the officer and threatened him.
The crowd got involved and tried to free Johnson from the police's grasp. He allegedly got free and went towards Dias and pushed her in the chest and said that every night the police hara**ed him. Fire Links is reported to have jumped over a wall in the back of the premises. The police called for additional back-up to help disperse the crowd and the music equipment was seized and taken to the Half-Way Tree Police Station. A warrant was prepared for Fire Link's arrest. When he appeared before the court on Monday he was granted bail of $30,000 with surety and was ordered to surrender his travel documents. Johnson will return to court on July 11 for trial.