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Prosecution alleges Matthew D. Hazell was after $28.3K in botched robbery

The trial of former employee of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank Matthew D. Hazell has begun in the High Court of the Virgin Islands. Photo: Facebook
A view of the scene where the shooting allegedly took place as seen on February 16, 2015. Photo: VINO/File
A view of the scene where the shooting allegedly took place as seen on February 16, 2015. Photo: VINO/File
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – A jury body is well locked in the trial of former employee of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank Matthew D. Hazell as the trial got underway in the High Court yesterday November 8, 2016.

The charges are attempted murder and unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition.

The trial kick-started with the prosecution, led by Senior Crown Counsel Leslie Ann Faulkner, addressing the jury, giving them a picture of what they will attempt to prove as what occurred on the night of February 16, 2015.

Hazell, it is alleged, staged a daring attempt to relieve police sergeant Darville Carty of cash on February 16, 2015. Mr Carty was in the process of executing a night deposit for One Mart Super Store at the said bank where the accused worked.

Capsuled in the dramatic picture described by the senior Crown Counsel was the image of the attempt made by the police sergeant to capture Hazell during the dramatic ordeal, to the extent that he kicked off his shoes to give chase.

She spoke of the several instances that the police officer fired shots at the accused even as the accused pointed a gun in his direction.

$28.3K was being deposited

The jury heard that in the moments leading up the to the alleged chase, the accused confronted Carty as he was about to take a package containing 28 thousand, three hundred dollars out of his vehicle, pointing a gun at him and asked for the money at which time he raised his hands in the air and told the would-be bandit that the money was in the vehicle.

It was after that a shot was fired in the direction of the officer after the accused said he was not seeing any money when the officer said it was. Carty dropped to the ground and in his report said he recalled the accused saying, “I am not playing.”

The victim once again told the accused that the money was in the vehicle and it was at the time that the accused decided to take another look for the money that the officer’s tactical instinct kicked in as he made a move to pull and raise his firearm but the accused didn’t back down. Instead he allegedly fired another shot at the police officer before speeding off from the scene.

The prosecution continued that Officer Carty gave chase, beckoning to the accused to stop and with him not complying several shots were exchanged. At one stage the accused was hit and had allegedly shed his mask.

The officer lost sight of the accused during the chase but later that very night Hazell showed up at the Peebles Hospital seeking care for a gunshot wound. He received medical attention but was also taken into custody.

The trial continues today, November 9, 2016 and is likely to go on for the remainder of this week.

Attorney At Law Mrs Valarie Stephens-Gordon is representing the defendant.

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