Former ISCF commandant jumps from cruise ship to avoid arrest

BY ALESIA EDWARDS Observer staff reporter alesiae@jamaicaobserver.com

Friday, May 28, 2010

OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Former commandant in the Island Special Constabulary Force Harold Crooks, who was wanted by the police on allegations of sexual assault against a minor, was caught yesterday in this tourist resort town on Jamaica's north coast.

Crooks was captured at the Ocho Rios cruise ship pier shortly after 8:00 yesterday morning by cops who went in search of him on the Carnival Liberty cruise ship on which he was a passenger.

Commanding officer for St Ann, Superintendent Gary Griffiths, said Crooks was captured by Marine Police after he jumped from the vessel in an effort to elude the cops.

"He wasn't rescued, he was wearing a life jacket when he was apprehended by the Marine Police," Griffiths told the Observer.

According to Griffiths, the police received information that Crooks was on board the Carnival Liberty, which docked at the Ocho Rios pier yesterday.

He said a police team, with the assistance of other enforcement officers, boarded the vessel to execute the warrant on Crooks when he allegedly jumped from the ship.

Griffiths said Crooks was captured shortly after he jumped into the water and handed over to the Ocho Rios police.

In March, Crooks' attorney, Vincent Wellesley, said his client had told him that he had fled the island and would not be returning to Jamaica, because he had no faith in the justice system here.

Crooks was wanted by the police, who are investigating allegations that he and another man sexually assaulted a minor.

He disappeared a day before he was scheduled to meet with investigators at the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.

Following his disappearance, a manhunt was launched for him after several visits to his home and a radio station where he was a correspondent proved futile.

Crooks revealed in an interview with a local radio station that he was in Canada and dared local cops to come get him if they 'could stand the cold'. It could not be ascertained yesterday from which country Crooks had boarded the vessel.