POLICE yesterday intensified their search for missing cop, Devon Pearson, after his car, a black 1996 Nissan Bluebird, with its sound system missing, was found along the Caymanas Bay Road in the deep interior of St Catherine. The key remained in the car’s ignition switch.

Police, led by Deputy Superintendent Denzil Boyd of the Greater Portmore Police Station, trekked the nearby canefields of the Caymanas Estate for acres, but found no trace of Constable Pearson.

They did, however, find an unconscious man, who had apparently collapsed on a dirt track. The man who was not immediately identified was taken to the Spanish Town hospital for treatment.

The police had earlier discovered Pearson’s car but returned to the Caymanas area after receiving a report that a body, presumed to be that of a dead man, was seen on a dirt road that runs through the canefields.

While they were relieved that it was not Pearson’s body that was discovered yesterday, colleagues feared the worst — their concern exacerbated by the fact that the equipment appeared to have been taken from his car.

“Frankly speaking, I fear the worst given the Jamaica that we are living in today,” said an officer during the search.

Pearson, five feet, 10 inches tall, of dark complexion and described by his colleagues of being of medium build, reported for work at the Portmore station on Tuesday night and left at the end of his shift Wednesday morning. He has not been seen or heard from since.

Pearson was carrying his service weapon when he went off duty.

While the police had no firm clues on what might have happened during yesterday’s hour-long hot, sticky, mosquito-infested and itchy search through the canefields, Pearson’s colleagues speculated openly about his fate.

“It is one out of two things,” said one cop. “It’s either he is somewhere in bondage and can’t make contact or he has been harmed. Either way, something is not right. No man can’t just drop off the map so”.

Constable Pearson was stationed at Portmore for about two months . He previously worked at the Photographic Base and the Scene of Crime Unit based at the CIB headquarters in Kingston.

CLAREMONT, St Ann — Two cops were shot and injured at the Claremont police station at about 4 o’clock yesterday morning, by a man whom cops described as a daring would-be thief who had been lurking on the station’s compound.

The injured lawmen are 23 year-old Constable Walter Campbell, who was shot in the thigh, and 50 year-old District Constable Archibald Campbell, who was wounded in his ankle.

Both men were taken to the St Ann’s Bay hospital, where the constable was treated and released. The DC, however, was admitted as his wound was said to be bleeding continuously.

Yesterday, the incident drew sharp criticism from one superintendent who used it to highlight the dangers he and his colleagues face every day.

“It is saying to me the extent to which criminals will go; a police station makes no difference from a residence,” lamented Superintendent Ray Palmer of the St Ann police. “The police need to be on a constant alert as they go about their duty. I’m not happy; it grieves my heart to see what has resulted.”

He added: “Here is a man so daring, it behooves us to be alert. Most people don’t know the real dangers the police face in the execution of their duties.”

The police said that at around 4:00 am yesterday, a man was seen looking over the wall at one section of the station compound. He then climbed over the wall to inspect a crashed Mazda pick-up parked on the premises, went back over the wall then returned, they said.

Two policemen then accosted him, he ran, cops gave chase and the man was subsequently held at the nearby premises of the Claremont Post Office.

The police said he was being searched when he reportedly pleaded with the DC, whom, he said, knew him and knew he was not a troublemaker.

“Archie yuh know me, an’ yuh know seh mih ah nuh wrong-doer,” the man reportedly said.

Lawmen said the man, who had apparently thrown the cops off-guard with his statement, then pulled a gun and fired several shots, hitting the two policemen.

He then escaped.

The police later identified the man as Curtis Armstrong, a resident of Bensonton District, about eight miles from Claremont. They theorised that Armstrong, whom they say had been deported from the US, was trying to remove parts from the Mazda pick-up to repair his own pick-up when he was challenged by the lawmen.

Yesterday’s incident is the second in four months in which armed men have entered police station compounds in St Ann in the early morning hours.

At around 12:30 am on April 28, three armed men staged a daring hold-up at the Alexandria police station. Quick reaction by the police resulted in one of the alleged gunmen being shot and killed. Another, whom residents later found suffering from gunshot wounds and brought back to the station, was admitted to the St Ann’s Bay hospital. The third man escaped. No policemen were injured in that incident.

Yesterday, Superintendent Palmer expressed confidence that Armstrong, the latest alleged attacker, would soon be caught as residents were co-operating with the police. At the same time, he urged residents to be on the alert for criminals within their communities.

Meanwhile, Inspector Noel Lewis, who is in charge of the Claremont station, expressed concern about the security levels at the station’s compound. Among his concerns is the lack of proper fencing for the compound.

“The compound needs fencing. There is a wall, about two-and-a-half feet, at one section and the RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Association) fencing at another; but the other sides are open,” he said.

Lewis also said the station was in need of a functioning motor vehicle. “Right now we only have a ‘limping’ one,” he said.