I begged him to stop

RYAN HAMILTON- DAVIS

THE Venezuelan woman who, along with 32-year-old Marco Antonio Diaz Gonzales, was involved in a car chase and a shooting last Wednesday, gave statements from her bed at the Port of Spain General Hospital yesterday, to investigators probing the incident. She remained under police guard.

According to reliable sources, the young woman, only known as Monica, told investigators that when Gonzales tried to evade police that night, she begged him to stop his car and surrender. The ordeal ended in Gonzales’ death and Monica being shot in the face by police. Monica told police Gonzales ran a red light and they were stopped by Western Division police holding a road block in Diego Martin.

She said police approached them and began issuing a ticket, but had their guns pointed at them the whole time. A police officer then reached into the car to switch off the ignition, and that was when Gonzales panicked and sped off.

Monica told police she pleaded with him to stop the car while they were being chased by police. Gonzales finally listened to her as they were approaching St Lucien Road, and pulled over and tried to surrender, but Monica said police opened fire on the car without asking any questions and shot Gonzales about six times. When the shooting started, Monica tried to evade the bullets but was shot in the face.

Police sources confirmed the shooting was being investigated and that at about 1 am on Tuesday they searched the apartment where Gonzales was staying in Petit Valley, but found nothing illegal.

While Monica remains in hospital, Gonzales’ relatives continue to try to get his body repatriated to Venezuela. Reliable sources said he had lost his passport while here in Trinidad, which is making it difficult for family and social workers to have his body flown back.